Onyx
by Aune Av Isfolket
Summary: AU. Mathias Køhler leads his father's troops into a battle, not knowing it's already lost. Wounded and captured, he expects to be killed by the terrifying Northern Lord, Lukas Bondevik. However, he suddenly finds himself tricked into a situation that not only demands him to betray his father, but also will turn his somehow dull life into something he would have never expected.
1. Chapter 1

Matthias was dragged by two warriors along some dark, endless tunnel under the cliffs, his feet barely touching the ground at all, shoulders in painful grasp of the captors as if they weren't bruised enough already.

He remained silent though, knowing that every little complaint would just encourage those men to hurt him even more. He smiled to himself instead, weak and bitter smile that only caused his cut lower lip more pain.

Oh, why did he insist on being the one to lead his father's soldiers into that pointless battle ? Their castle was such a perfect fortress, they could have stayed inside and no Northern Lord would ever manage to break those oaken gates.

But no, no. His father insisted on picking up the gauntled the other man had thrown down, not even bothering to consult his allied neighbours or the king. He always had to have things done his own way and immediately. That one trait Matthew inherited completely.

,Honestly, who would ever expect those savage warriors to fight like that ?' he asked himself wordlessly.

And then it was over. They lost ignominiously, beaten and outnumbered. He only remembered being wounded badly and falling off his horse just to be captured by those two grumpy Northerners.

It Had not been a battle anymoreback then. Northerners Had been leaving as if they hadn't bothered to fight anymore and his farther's troops had seemed so hopelessly broken. Matthias wondered how many of them had survived and will be able to make it back home.

He felt as he'd been carried like this for hours if not longer and he started to wonder how much more he'd stand until he lost consciousness. Then suddenly the tunnel curved sharply and the way out appeared, arch-shaped and bright, too bright for his tired, used to darkness eyes.

,So that's it.' he thought, surprisingly calm. ,That's where I'll meet my death, at least according to what I was told about this place. About HIM.

Once again he curved his lips into small, suffering but a bit rebellious smile as they left the tunnel. He blinked few times before his eyes got used to sudden brightness but he only managed to see a large cave full of warriors and then his captors released him.

Unable to stand on his own legs, Matthias immediately fell down to his knees and found himself left alone in the middle of hostile crowd.

,Great, that was one impressing entrance I must admit' he thought ironically. His exhausted, confused mind almost made him burst with laughter but luckily he kept himself just in time.

And then the full image of his current situation hit him. He hadn't been killed or rather finished off just because HE had demanded to see him first. Lukas Bondevik, Northerner, just like him, only from further North. Fearsome, ferocious and merciless warrior lord whose actions, despite of his young age, had grown legendary.

He wasn't a lord in true meaning of that title, it hadn't been granted to him by any king but then again...there were no kings that far North. No kings, no official law, no borders as well. Everything was fluent and changeable if one was mighty enough to fight for that.

And Lukas Bondevik surely was strong enough to get whatever he wished for. Otherwise he wouldn't be feared by the kings. Young man with a small army of half-wild fighting men and women shouldn't be a threat to actual kingdoms but somehow he had managed to make them avoid messing with him.

Whenever Matthias thought of the man his imagination created a picture of a wild looking, tall and muscular warrior with short beard and furrowed, bushy eyebrows, probably also wearing animal's skins instead of regular clothes.

Actually, it was the way he had imagined every Northener to look like until he saw those people in the battle and realised that they were not that different from him. But theoretically he was a Northerner as well, even if he came from more civilised side of the Northern Sea.

Caught deep inside his slightly chaotic thoughts, Matthias didn't even try to stand up until he finally acknowledged everyone looking down at him. He forced his worn up, wounded body to move and with heroic effort, he got up, staggering just a bit.

,,I don't recall granting you my permission to stand up." blank, ice cold voice cut through the air and sudden silence fell, not even louder breath was heard. And before Matthias got to react, some warrior's hand clenched on his shoulder, pushed down and made him kneel again.

He felt quite indignant at such behaviour, especially considering how much effort he had put into standing up at all. He raised his head and then he saw that.

Right in front of his eyes there was a coarse, wooden throne standing on natural podium made of huge, flat rock. And on that throne there was a person sitting casually, looking down right at him, piercing him with intense kind of stare.

Matthias' eyes widened unwittingly as he realised who that person must have been. And that confused him greatly for the man was nothing like he had pictured him so many times before.

First of all, he seemed so young that he could've been taken for Lukas Bondevik's son rather than him in person.

Secondly, he didn't have the slightest look of a ruthless warrior. He was of medium height, rather slim although his uncovered arms were shaped with quite visible muscles. His hair was platinum blond, not so long but still there was a silver cross-shaped hair clip shining above his ear.

And the man's face...his face was not simply handsome or beautiful. It was perfect, every detail made to catch and hold others' attention. His dark blue eyes big but narrowing toward his temples unusually. His features slightly delicate but not in feminine way, more in unearthly one.

That was it. He didn't even remind a proper human. More like some eerie creature from that disturbing Northern folklore.

All of those creatures, especially the beautiful ones were considered seductive but extremely dangerous, vicious and powerful, realised Matthias, noticing the man's blank expression and sharp, warning gaze focused on him.

And yet he wasn't able to turn his own look away as if he had been bewitched. Which might have been true, considering Northerner's fairylike appearance.

After a moment that felt like eternity to Matthias, Lukas raised one corner of his lips, barely noticeably. Then he stood up and jumped down from the podium, his moves had that unattainable for regular humans grace, like the one of a cat.

He slowly, casually walked toward Matthias and stopped right in front of him. His attention seemed fully centered on kneeling prisoner, nonetheless Matthias didn't look up, not wanting to get captured by his unhuman stare again. He kept his head hang down but the rest of his body was signalising will to fight and stubborness.

Then, completely out of sudden, Lukas' hand caught a firm hold of his chin and decidedly lifted it. His fingers were cold against Matthias' skin, almost as cold as those darkened eyes. Frightfully mesmerising eyes.

There were very few things that could make Matthias speechless or uncertain. And even less that could have had him so captured that he wouldn't even want to fight back. But those eyes had it all and more.

He stared back, slowly realising that somehow he wasn't terrified or even scared a little bit. He was just...so fascinated, so drawn to that enthralling young man whose gaze got him motionless, that he simply couldn't contain any feeling more, not even fear.

,,Are you not afraid ?" asked Lukas in quiet, emotionless voice.

Matthias did that one thing which was the most typical one for him. He grinned, just a bit insolently and replied bluntly ,,You don't look frightening."

Warriors surrounding them closely seemed to hold their breath for a moment of silence after his words. But Lukas only tilted his head slightly, not breaking their eye contact.

,,What's frightening about me should be my actions, not my looks." he replied blankly, but there was a tiny twinkle of approval in his eyes.

,,You saw me. Now, how are you going to kill me ? Because if your plan was to get my father to trade his castle for me, then I tell you it was such a waste of time and effort to get me here." continued Matthias, unsmiling, but still with no signs of fear.

,,If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't breathe now." said Lukas in a matter of fact tone. ,,And since I decided to spare your meaningless life you clearly owe me something."

,Well, that was smooth.' thought Matthias, feeling rather offended at first but then he chuckled, squinting his eyes.

,,How canny of you."

,,Isn't it ?" asked Lukas rhetorically, his voice indifferent. ,,Now, what I need from you is to make one, simple decision."

Matthias shrugged and supressed a hiss, when that move caused him some unnecessary pain.

,,Bring it on." he encouraged cheekily.

Lukas' fingers clenched tight around his chin and he leaned down towards him, lowering his voice a bit so it sounded sinisterly.

,,The choice is between two options. First one is simple. I let my warriors have some fun so they kill everyone you know and burn down your castle. The second one however is more complicated. It involves you smuggling me inside that pretty castle of yours and helping me to find and carry away some stone, shiny, little onyx that just needs to be in my possession."

Matthias gasped resentfully.

,,Oi, you don't threat my homeland." he objected. ,,And don't call that a choice. It's called compulsion, you know ?"

Lukas noded once.

,,Feel free to call that anywise as long as I get my answer."

Matthias laughed unhappily.

,,And why would you need that stone ? I don't even know if we have any onyxes in the castle, I highly doubt that."

,,This one you have. It had been safely hidden though, which is why you have to buy me some time to look for it. Otherwise I'll just find it in the ashes your castle will turn into."

Matthias snorted and rolled his eyes so not respectfully.

,,All right already, I got that burning thing first time you mentioned it. And I doubt some old, forgotten stone will be such a loss to my family so you can have it if you insist. And if that means you'll be gone right after you get it."

,,I will." reassured Lukas, his tone somehow ambiguous but Matthias didn't really catch that. Then his chin was released and he barely kept his balance without that strong grasp. His head was spinning slightly, he had lost some impressive amount of blood after all. His red shirt was soaked with blood from his right side.

Lukas sat on his makeshift throne again and looked down at him but his words were directed to someone else.

,,Take care of him and let the healer make him useful enough to get me into castle as soon as possible, preferably within next few days."

Now, when Lukas was back on the podium, his warriors once again seemed rather relaxed and were chatting to one another.

Those two men who had brought him here, once again grasped his shoulders and lifted him to a standing position, ignoring the hiss he gave them in return. They took him into another tunnel, lit up with torches. But this time middle aged woman followed them, murmuring to herself about wounds that should knock out some certain people quite a time ago.

And strangely right after she said that, Matthias stumbled, suddenly seeing nothing but darkness as he was slowly passing out.

,,Finally" he heard the healer say, before he let himself drown in that relieving emptiness.


	2. Chapter 2

Next few days were pretty much all unhealthy sleep, pain and short periods of half-consciousness for Mathias. Even if he woke up, everything was strangely blurry and distant as if his mind was drifting away from his body.

Things would probably get much worse though, if it wasn't for the healer, who happened to be very skillfull one. She would came to check on him several times per day, bringing him fresh water and changing his bandages but never bothering to say anything else than a bunch of disrespectful remarks, mostly about his presence here, state of Lukas' mind and unnecessary fighting.

She was fun, decided Mathias, not just because lying there alone in some tiny cave wasn't anything pleasant. Her murmured comments would have made him laugh, had he not been so hopelessly weak.

He was recovering quickly and very soon he became impatient. He was sick of sleeping or lying motionlessly, tired of trembling torch light and the cave itself. Places like that used to get him uptight. He always felt best being outdoors. And now he simply craved for some fresh air and seeing the sky above, instead of a grey, solid ceiling.

That's why as soon as he was able to stand up and keep this position without immediate collapsing, Mathias started to take a bit unsteady walks outside his cave. He didn't go far though, only strolled for a while along empty tunnels to stretch stiff muscles. He was probably lucky to not encounter anyone but it still got him frustrated.

That was until Lukas came to visit him. Or rather to came to announce that they would be leaving tomorrow.

,,Wait, what ?" asked Mathias amazedly from his shakedown. Lukas gave him long, quizzical stare, leaning his shoulder against entrance's frame in a casual position. He looked like he was right back from the outside, black coat covered with snowflakes, some of them even melting in his platinum hair, face pale and expressionless, eyes looking somehow frozen and darkened.

,,Thought you were desperate to get out of here." he raised one eyebrow slightly.

,,Oh, man, you cannot belive how desperate." grinned Mathias, his eyes lit up with excitement.

,,Right." came a flat reply.

,,In fact I was just about to go looking for you." Mathias confessed half-seriously.

,,You're not allowed to leave that cave."

,,I knew you'd say that !" Mathias winked at him laughingly, his grin persisting.

,,But you were walking out anyway, weren't you ?" questioned Lukas rhetorically in a monotone.

Mathias nodded audaciously.

Lukas lifted one corner of his lips.

,,How bold." he commented and Mathias couldn't help a gleeful laughter. He raked a hand through his hair, trying to have himself more serious.

,,I'm not sure if I can take all the way to the castle, I mean I barely can keep my balance when walking. I'd probably slide off the saddle or something."

,,You'll be fine. And we can't wait any longer." came a terse answer.

Mathias shrugged, his mind wandering across all the possible ways to get them both into the castle without acting suspicious. That shouldn't be that hard though, he assumed.

When Lukas left, he sat there for a while, his back pressed against the wall, eyes closed. He might have acted gaily but every time his eyes met Lukas', he couldn't supress that strange longing and fascination from growing. It was as if his heart was skipping beats.

Was it only because of Lukas being so unearthly ?

There was no way he could understand feeling this way. But he also wouldn't be himself if he didn't cover it up with all the smiles, cheerfulness and generally being usual him. That just came naturally as a reaction to Lukas' indifferency. That and a wicked temptation to tease him and have him finally showing some decent emotions. Make him unable to keep them inside. They had to be in there, didn't they ?

Later, as he was taking a delightfully hot, herbal scented bath Helsa had prepared for him in a large, wooden washtub, Mathias wrapped his eager mind about the idea of making Lukas loose his ever present composure, no matter how arduous to achieve that would be.

,That's gonna be so much fun.' he thought, his lips turning up in an amused smile.

And he definitely needed some distraction from what they were going to do. If his father found out, he'd probably get him locked in dungeons for betrayal or something, if not because of the mysterious stone, then for plotting with enemy and bringing him into the castle. Lord Køhler had never really cared for his most reckless son and as impulsive as he was, he could easily do such thing.

That would definitely drive Mathias fully insane very quickly, to be locked underground like that. He shuddered a bit and shaked his head to get rid of an irksome sensation. He'll just have to make sure not to get caught.

Feeling a bit trapped, but unreasonably eager the same time, he grinned. After all, there were two engrossing challenges ahead of him. And nothing could get Mathias to do something more efficiently than making it a challenge.


	3. Chapter 3

Mathias risked casting a sidelong glance at Lukas and once again couldn't help bursting into laughter, bending down and almost sliding off the saddle. His horse flinched and took a wide, impatient swing with its head. Mathias patted lively animal on its neck, cooling it down a bit.

,,You'll get us caught because of your plain stupidity." said Lukas in a freezing cold voice, his gaze focused straight ahead.

,,I'm sorry, I just..." he really tried to calm down, but laughter just kept on coming back and shaking his whole body to the point where he simply had to let it out. And that wasn't even funny enough to cause such reaction.

No, it had more to do with a fact that it was Lukas. Whenever Mathias was with him, he found himself slightly out of control as if all of his emotions had been heightened and everything seemed so intensified.

,,You just...I told you it wasn't a proper dress up." he managed to say. Lukas regarded him finally, his expression rather bored.

,,Why ?"

,,You look like a teenage urchin who broke into a random temple and stole priest's robes to wear them and play nasty tricks on people." said Mathias quickly, his breath uneven from supressed laugh.

Lukas tilted his head a trifle.

,,Oh, do I ?" he asked, sounding uninterested.

,,Totally. It makes you look even younger and so innocent. And priests here usually are adults. Moreover, I recall that rule, something about being of age to become even an acolyte, not to mention an actual priest whose robes you're wearing. We'll have to come up with some brilliant piece of explanation for this. But you know what ? At least nobody's going to connect you with the terrible Northern Lord who invaded these lands, that's for sure." chattered Mathias amusedly.

Lukas rolled his eyes and looked ahead again. On this sunny, unexpectedly warm winter day, his eyes shared a colour with the sky above, rich, vibrant shade of blue. Maybe just a little darker, disturbing. They surely had Mathias all flustered, meeting his own every now and then.

He smirked slightly and bit his lower lip. That whole priest's outfit was still better than Lukas showing up in the castle dressed up as a ruthless warrior. No one would ever buy that.

It wasn't even him looking childish or anything, only a bit younger than in his usual clothes. But still, he didn't even look 20. He seemed strikingly unhuman though, almost ethereal. And knowing who he really was while seeing him in priest's robes...Well, that _was _funny.

Mathias glanced at the Northerner, noticing his subtly frowned expression.

,,Oi, Luke." he started cheerfully.

Lukas shot him a cold glare.

,,Don't call me that.'' he hissed in response.

,,Whatever. Anyway, that navy blue looks really cute on you." said Mathias, grinning cheekily and not showing he truly meant that.

Lukas just looked at him the way that could make a flame freeze.

* * *

Short, winter day was heading to an end when they rode off the cliff road and into a pine forest. Right above the treetops they could see the castle's towers, silhouetting against bright orange sky, until the forest closed over them.

It was darker than in the open field what remainded Mathias of their aim. Well, Lukas' aim, but he was actively involved. His hands clenched tight around loose reins he was holding.

Lukas seemed to immediately sense the change of mood and gave him quite an earnest gaze, his eyes back in their usual shady blue colour.

,,Just in case you were considering playing any treacherous games with me, I remind you of what will happen." he warned quietly, his voice calm but somehow frightful.

Mathias dauntlessly pulled a face on him.

,,I've already told you that but...You don't scare me, Northerner." he replied, shrugging, his voice ostentatiously bored. And he told the truth. It wasn't Lukas that troubled him, it was his own odd fascination with the man.

,,We'll see about that." said Lukas in voice so hushed Mathias could barely hear him over snow scrunching loudly under their horses' hooves.

,,Sure. And I'd say all games are more of your thing than mine." added Mathias, smirking.

Lukas didn't respond that but the look on his face seemed contemplative.

Following a wide path across the forest they reached their destination very soon. They took the last turn and suddenly the castle were right in front of them. Well, right behind a frozen moat.

Both of them stopped their horses at no sign.

,,Did you fabricate a proper story ?" questioned Lukas, his eyes slowly studying fortress' walls and small windows.

,,I'll improvise." Mathias grinned, acting more confident then he really was. ,,What ?" he asked laughily, noticing Lukas' expression. ,,I always do. And trust me, it's for the best. You can never predict everything, so where's the point of tangling yourself into some fancy plans when you can just sway with the flow ?"

,,Sway with the flow." repeated Lukas doubtfully but with a hint of an irony. ,,I'm starting to regret dropping the original plan. Simple fire would do perfectly."

Matthias reached a hand to poke Lukas' shoulder punitively and chuckled.

,,No fire, you little freak. I'll let us in smoothly enough, just watch me."

Lukas let out a loud, annoyed sigh. Then he turned his head and caught Mathias' stare with his own, far more intense. And that long, inscrutable look of shadow-filled, unearthly eyes made Mathias' heart skip not just one beat but a whole sequence of them or it only seemed so but still, it left him breathless.

* * *

,,Mathias !" loud, disbelieving cry came from a young man who had just thundered inelegantly down the narrow staircase and didn't bother to stop or slow down before he thrown his arms around Mathias in a strong, manly hug.

,,Little brother ! We thought we lost you when the surviviors from the battle came back and you weren't amongst them !" he yelled excitedly, clenching his muscular arms tight.

Mathias winced, his expression joyful yet pained.

,,Oi, Nik, I had a few ribs broken, you know." he mumbled, trying to catch a breath and looking rather pale.

The other man released him right away.

,,Gods, Mat, I'm so sorry ! But it's so freaking good to see you alive, you have no idea !"

Lukas was standing quietly by the fireplace, watching attentively everything that happened since guards by the gate had let them inside and hurried to call for family members.

First one to appear was that insanely loud and cheerful man who looked like older, but surely not more mature version of Mathias. They could be recognised as brothers with a single glance, even their characters seemed similar.

When he finally spotted Lukas, his eybrows raised in plain confusion. He dropped fooling around with brother, just to stare at the stranger tactlessly. His eyes, sky blue, just like Mathias' ones, showed no signs of suspicion. Only astonishment.

,,A priest ?" he asked hesitatingly, shifting his gaze between Lukas and Mathias.

Mathias grinned at Lukas and winked as if he wanted to say ,,I told you nobody's gonna buy this."

,,That's the man who saved my life. He's a priest on the other side of Northern Sea, you know. But he often travels to share his religious kindness with all the nations." lied Mathias smoothly.

,,Are there orders and temples on the other side ?" his brothers sounded surprised.

,,Yes, but there are only few and they have to recruit without age restrictions or anything, you know. The aren't many religious people out there after all."

,,Oh, I see now." laughed the other man, staring Lukas up an down once again. Lukas stared back disdainfully and Mathias' brother averted his eyes uncertainly.

Mathias who's been watching this, now grinned wickedly.

,,Don't mind him being a little weird, he's a bit wild amongst people." he said in a scenic whisper, his eyes cathing Lukas' glare.

,,Oh. Oh...All right. But now tell me exactly what happened !"

,,So I was lying deep in the snow, all around me blood and corpses, the battle was over and Northeners were long gone. I was bleeding out because of that wound here. And suddenly I saw someone leaning over me and asking if I could hear them. When I nodded, he helped me to stand up, that must've been some kind of miracle because seriously, I was literally dying few moments ago. And yet that brave man here managed to drag me to his horse and help me climb onto its back. And then he led me all the way to his tent. Then I passed out and it took me several days to get well but I was decently taken care of so...here I am, back amongst living."

His brother who was listening frozen, his eyes widened, suddenly shook his head in amazement and before anyone could stop him, he took few steps towards Lukas and closed him in affectionate, forceful hug.

,,I simply don't know any proper words to thank you enough, priest !"

,,It's Lukas." corrected the Northener, shoving him away with that reluctant look on his face.

Behind his brother's back Mathias was desperatly trying to keep an explosion of laughter inside, pressing both hands against his mouth and letting out strange, suffocating sounds completely oblivient to Lukas daggering him with a steel-cold glare.

,,Well, I'm Nicklavs. Please, feel welcomed to my family's castle." said the other man.

He turned back to see Mathias literally choking with supressed laughter and frowned, his look concerned.

,,Mat, are you all right ?"

Lukas didn't wait for his answer, he just came up to him, took a little swing and hit the back of his head with an open hand but making sure it'll hurt enough.

Mathias let out a laughing cry of protest and took a deep breath, responding innocently to Lukas' cold fury. Their eyes met.

There was a moment of silence and then Nicklavs chuckled amusedly.

,,Nice priests you've got there on North !"

* * *

It turned out that Mathias' father was currently visiting other Lord, his closest neighbour and an ally, in order to get the man to send his troops in case of next Northerner's attack. He took his wife, Mathias' stepmother with him as well.

Mathias could only feel relieved even if slightly disappointed as always when it came to his father. The two of them didn't really get along.

It was also very convienient for him and his made up story. Not that he enjoyed lying to his brother like this, there were some serious lies, not like the ones they practiced on each other as kids. But it was for Nicklavs' own sake.

And it was so entertaining to see Lukas rejecting unwanted hugs and generally looking irritated, even somewhat confused. Especially during a fancy dinner Nicklavs ordered to prepare for the three of them.

The whole thing to Mathias was a sheer joy from seeing his brother again, feeling accepted in his own house for a change and watching Lukas, intimidating Nicklavs with his unearthly looks and emotionlessness.

,Poor Nik, he seems more uncertain with every next attempt to become friends with Lukas.' thought Mathias, emptying his mug of excelent beer.

Long before Mathias even considered going to bed, Lukas stood up, left the table and said his goodnights blankly while walking out of the dining room.

Brothers raised their mugs in a wordless toast for being back together, started drinking and chattering gaily. That evening ended up far over midninght for both of them and as Mathias reached his chambers, he fell asleep right after undressing himself and spreading his still briused body all over that incredibly comfortable bed.

* * *

Mathias was woken up all out of sudden, in the middle of the night or so he thought, because when he opened his eyes, bright, morning light blindened him and forced to shutting them close at once. That didn't keep Lukas from pulling at his shoulder impatiently while standing over his bed.

Mathias groaned painfully, covering his tired face with both hands.

,,Nooo, Luke, what the hell ? Let me sleep..." came his moaning voice.

Lukas snorted scoffingly and quickly pulled the pillow from under his head. Mathias gasped and casted him a hard glare but it didn't really work well with his sleepy eyes.

,,Get up, you drunkard." ordered Lukas coldly, looking down at him.

,,Oi ! I only drank a few mugs !" Mathias attempted to cover himself completely with the quilt but the other man interrupted, clenching his hands around it and keeping it so Mathias could only let out a frustrated groan.

,,What do you want ? It's too freaking early for anything..."

Lukas bent over him and against a background of the sun-filled window, his platinum hair were gleaming dazzlingly. But it was the way his eyes caught his own that woke Mathias up more efficiently than anything what had happened before.

,,Get up." repeated Lukas peremptorily.

,,All right already !" gave up Mathias, sighing theatrically. ,,Just give me 5 minutes."

,,3 minutes and I'm waiting outside so don't even think of falling back asleep." said Lukas, slamming the doors shut as he left the chamber.

,,Or what ?" mumbled Mathias in grumpy voice, nonetheless he got off the bed, stretching like a cat and yawning and started to look for some clothes.

When he left the room he noticed that Lukas was indeed waiting outside, his back pressed against the wall, eyes closed, looking somewhat worn out.

,,Did you get any sleep last night ?" asked him Mathias, supressing another yawn. Lukas looked at him flatly.

,,Of course. Best ideas always come in dreams, don't they ?" he replied pensively.

Mathias shrugged and ran a hand through his messy hair.

,,Whatever. So, why did you interrupted my delightful sleep ?"

Lukas beckoned at him wordlessly and they moved along the silent corridors. They didn't encounter any servant, though the maids must have started their working day quite a time ago.

,,I see you've got pretty familiar with this place during the night. That makes me wonder what might be so tricky that you needed me here when you apparently can do all the searching by yourself." noticed Mathias ironically as they were heading toward eastern wing, the one with...

,,Wait !" Mathias suddenly stood still. ,,We're so not going in there."

,,Don't be absurd, we are going in."

,,No way." Mathias shaked his head. ,,It's locked anyway."

Lukas gave him a bewildered glance.

,,Honestly, get real. The key is inside that hideous blue vase over there." he pointed at an inconspicious, dust-covered vessel placed in the windowsill's corner.

Mathias' eyes widened.

,,It's been there the whole time ?" he asked in astonished whisper. ,,But how did you..."

,,It doesn't matter." interrupted him Lukas impolitely.

,,Ahh, if you know where the key is, why did you bring me here ? I really don't want to go in, those chambers were...they belonged to..." he paused, running his hand through the hair perpexedly.

Lukas ignored his objections and pulled a rusty key out of the vase.

,,It's daytime." he replied absent-mindedly, inserting it into the door lock. ,,It would be suspicious if someone from the servants saw me walking all over the castle, not to mention your brother. And with you it simply looks like you are showing me round."

,,Wasn't it more suspicious at night ?" wondered Mathias doubtfully.

,,Not at all." smirked Lukas quizzically.

The door was open and Mathias caught a glimpse of a deep dark interior. He hesitated, not knowing what to expect since those chambers had always been closed and having an air of a painful mystery. But they had been his mother's so how bad could it get ?

He glanced around, bit his lower lip and followed Lukas inside. The door slammed shut behind them and Mathias gasped in surprise when a complete darkness surrounded them at once.

,,Damn, aren't there any windows in here ?" he murmured, flinching at a small twinge of anxiety in his chest. Not because of the darkness but he couldn't help feeling trapped, just like he had in the cave before. If he don't pull himself together right away...he shuddered, taking a deep breath. That was so ridiculous and so out of his control.

,,They're curtained." replied Lukas quietly and Mathias could hear him walking away in a fast pace. He felt even worse left alone and helpless less like this. And how the hell Lukas managed to go anywhere and not stumble or fall over something in spite of that complete lack of any light ?

But he couldn't really focus on that mystery, not when his breathing grew slightly uneven and his heart fastened unpleasantly.

,,Just wait there for a second." came Lukas' voice, sounding somewhat soothingly as if the man was fully aware of Mathias' condition.

Sudden burst of bright sunshine blindened him as the thick curtains were drew aside. He covered his eyes with an arm but the light felt relieving and quickly washed his anxiety away.

When his eyes got used to vibrating brightness, Mathias lowered the arm and looked around with obvious curiosity.

Lukas casted a puzzled glance towards him but he said nothing before turning around to look outside a window.

Mathias shrugged in silence, unusually for him. The chamber looked like there was someone still living in it, only it was a bit dusty and stuffy and he found himself intrigued. He never knew his mother, she had died in his early childhood but simple being in her room for a first time made him feel like he could get to know her anyway.

,,What do we do now ?" he asked, grinning as Lukas turned towards him.

,,Now you leave and keep your brother and anyone else far from here." said Lukas, looking deep in thought or as if he was listening to soundless voices from somewhere inside him. The eerie look in his eyes sent shivers down Mathias' spine.

,,No way !" opposed Mathias stubbornly. Lukas' eyes narrowed a bit. He came up to him, grasped his wrist, opened the door and dragged him outside. Mathias gasped ostentatiously, folding his arms when Lukas let go of him and stepped back into the chambers.

,,What the hell ?" asked Mathias but he couldn't keep an amused smile from pulling up his lips. Lukas' cold glare just didn't work properly on him.

,,Keep them busy and don't come back here yourself !" hissed Lukas, slamming the door and leaving him alone on the empty corridor.

,,And that's what I get for my invaluable help ?" he asked laughingly in a loud voice, grinning. No response came from behind the door and he walked away, still smiling and feeling quite entertained.


	4. Chapter 4

Mathias, knowing his brother's morning moods, abandoned the idea of waking him up to spend the day together. He didn't really feel like doing anything by himself as well, so eventually he ended up back in his bed, wrapped up tightly in the quilt, falling asleep once his head laid on the pillow.

A few weird, filled with faceless shadows dreams later, he was awaken by being roughly smacked across the part of head that was sticking above the quilt.

,,Ouch ! What's that for ?!"

,,Wake up, dear gods, have you been sleeping all day ?" Lukas' voice seemed less constrained than usually. When Mathias sat up, rubbing the back of his head with miserable expression, he saw the Northerner standing over his bed, his arms crossed and lips curved slightly with something that could only be a disdain.

,,So what ? I'm not really a morning person." replied Mathias blithely, yawning and lenghtening to get rid of the stiffness a long nap left his body with.

,,It's already late afternoon." Lukas pointed one finger at the window that happened to be showing eastern sky, darkening slowly with all the shades of blue and navy possible.

,,Right." Mathias chuckled in amusement and shrugged. ,,It's not a big deal, you know, sleeping all day long. I do so whenever I stayed up all night or just feel tired."

,,Pathetic." remarked Lukas coldly.

Mathias only grinned at him as if the insult hadn't reached him at all.

,,You should try that some time. Anyway, what's with you sneaking into my bedroom again? As if you couldn't knock at the door like any decent person would. I bet you did it to justify hitting me again, man, you seriously ought to quit that, that's so harsh." Mathias' grumbling had undeniable undertone of his typical gleeful mocking.

Lukas ignored his objections and switched subjects casually.

,,Didn't I tell you to spend the day with your brother ?"

,,Why ? Did he bother you or something ?" asked Mathias, wondering if that was the reason of him being beaten up by Lukas. Again. But what caused him to allow that, well, that was the real question. Why did he suddenly take all the harassment passively, with barely a word of complaint ? It was nothing like his usual self, not even his brothers got that kind of connivance from him. But with Lukas it just seemed to come naturally. Same for the need to tease him to the point of losing at least one slight piece of that cold composure of his. More of a craving, to be honest, than a simple need, admitted Mathias inwardly. And that was the very thing which got him both scared and intrigued.

,,No." came a flat reply from Lukas whose eyes were watching him attentively, making him feel uncertain as he finally noticed that. He covered it with a grin however. He always did.

,,So what is it ? Did you wake me for any reason or...Wait ! Did you search my mother's chambers ?!"

,,Yes." confessed Lukas tersely and Mathias was nearly jumping out of his skin with curiosity.

,,And ? Did you find the stone ? " he asked eagerly, on one breath.

Lukas planted one hand into his pocket and pulled out something before reaching his clenched fist towards Mathias and opening it slowly. It was a plum-sized, mellow and oval onyx that not only was plain black but in fact seemed to literally absorb the light and convert it into darkness. Its polished surface should be shiny and gleaming but all it did was looking like there was a shadow itself locked inside. It was disturbing yet ravishing and so inexplicably tempting. And Mathias thought it fitted Lukas perfectly since the man could be easily described that way as well.

Feeling a bit weird, mostly due to his own cogitations, Mathias turned his sight away from the stone, only to encounter Lukas' intense stare.

,,Touch it." ordered said man in a voice no louder than a whisper, his eyes darkened and somewhat persuasive. And entirely mesmerising.

Mathias obeyed almost unconsciuosly, his hand reaching up towards the stone until his fingertips laid on its surface. What happened next violently pulled him out of the trance right away. He let out a startled cry and drew back a little in a flash, clenching his hand into a fist and holding it protectively pressed against his bare chest.

,,It's freaking hot !" he gasped, giving Lukas a resentful glare. ,,How come you just hold it like this ? I thought my skin would melt the second I touched it."

Lukas nodded once, looking completely composed as if he had been expecting that to happen.

,,Your hand, show it to me." he asked in a quiet voice. Mathias did so, somehow distrustfully though. Lukas examined it with a searching look and gentle, dabbing touch of his own fingers that for some reason sent shivers down Mathias' spine. His fingertips however seemed ideally fine, no burns or cuts visible.

,,It was just an impression." explained Lukas, letting go of his hand and catching his puzzled stare with something almost like a smirk on his lips. ,,Now try again."

Mathias flinched, his eyes widened in disbelief. ,,Hell no ! Impression or not, it still hurt the same."

,,It won't this time." promised Lukas, noticeably amused by Mathias' refusal. His dark blue eyes had some wicked twinkle, a kind of one that would be rather expected from a pixie in its usual mischievious mood and yet it matched Lukas' unearthly face just perfectly.

,,Oh yeah, I'm so trusting you with that again, sure." scoffed Mathias what made Lukas actually lift corners of his lips in frolicsome if slightly reserved smile. And once again Mathias had to remind himself he was supposed to breathe when his lungs unexpectedly lost that ability.

And then that new pixie-Lukas took advantage of Mathias' confusion, stepping a bit closer, leaning towards him and swiftly planting the stone in his hand. His spiteful smile widened as he clenched Mathias' fist forcefully, securing it with both his own hands pressed around.

,,How does it feel ?" he asked then, his face quite close to Mathias' one and their eyes glued together.

,,Cold." answered Mathias quietly and a bit breathlessly, meaning not only the stone but also Lukas' voice, stare and the touch of his hands. Everything about the Northerner was so cold and yet it easily made his blood boil like this.

,,Good." whispered Lukas enigmatically, leaving Mathias to wonder in just how big of a trouble he actually was.

Few seconds later he released Mathias' hand, grabbed the onyx and straightened up. While casually walking away towards the door, he looked back over his shoulder, smirking slightly.

,,Put on some clothes and get up. Your brother expects you in dining room."

And then he left, slamming the door loudly behind him and tearing Mathias out of bewildered numbness.

* * *

,,You know, Mattie, that little priest of yours is just so creepy when he stares at you with no emotions shown. Makes you feel like he's something else, weird."

Mathias smiled at this comment and nodded slightly, though his own experience with Lukas' stare clearly didn't match with the one of his brother's. Creepy wasn't amongst words he would use to describe his own impressions. Mysterious, enthralling, challenging...those seemed more fitted.

He shaked his head quickly and took a big gulp of beer from a mug he was holding to get rid of thoughts like this. His fascination in Lukas was incomprehensible. It would probably make him do something stupid if the Northerner stayed here any longer. Good thing he had found that stone already.

,,Well, I don't think he'll linger here." said Mathias, staring into fireplace they were sitting by while drinking beer and talking casually.

,,Oh ? That's a pity, I really wanted to see our father dealing with that guy." grinned Nicklavs, his words making Mathias burst with laughter as he imagined that.

,,That definitely would be worth seeing." he admitted. ,,I'd stake on Lukas though."

His brother chuckled. ,,Wisely."

They shared a look and couldn't help an explosion of goofy laugh that only kept on growing because they were basically inducing each other into it so none of them was capable of stopping until they were both just too tired, their stomachs aching a bit.

,,I missed that, little brother." said Nicklavs later, his smile slightly sheepish but tender. Mathias grinned in response.

,,So did I."

He meant that the more so because they hadn't really had such carefree evenings for a while. They were usually too busy with their separate lives.

Nicklavs was closer with their father as an official heir, very often he had all days planned and if not, he was still spending time with their two younger stepbrothers, teaching them horse riding, sword fighting or getting them interested in books from the castle's impressive library.

Mathias on the other hand was always wild and restless. As a kid he wouldn't stay in one place for long, always on the move or getting all lazy and daydreaming somewhere far from everyone. He also tended to spend long hours outdoors, mostly on a horseback. He constantly felt as if there was something inside him that just wouldn't let him calm down. Even when he grew up it never really left him. That's why he was always first in line to all the crazy, risky doings, involving those that could put him in a serious danger.

And also their father's presence didn't help in brother's bounding time. Not that he was doing something particular, except for being his usual absorbing, impatient and loud self and not considering other people's plans when they collided with his own.

Mathias rubbed his forehead and took a last remaining sip from his mug. Although he had drank only two of them, the warmth of fireplace and feeling relaxed got him a bit sleepy. Perhaps he was just still recovering from recent blood loss because he really needed lots of sleep lately.

,,I think I'll go to bed." he announced, standing up from the table and supressing a yawn. Nicklavs smiled at him.

,,Sure. Would you go horse riding with me tomorrow ?" he asked, somewhat uncertainly.

,,You can always count on me with this one, Nik." answered Mathias cheerfuly, walking away with a wide grin plastered to his face and hoping his father will take his time visiting allies.

* * *

Mathias stumbled for at least tenth time and muttered a quiet curse. Being his usual scatterbrained self, he had forgotten to take a candle with him and currently he was trying not to get himself killed while climbing up the staircase. Darkness was so thick it seemed to press into his eyes and make them hurt from desperate attempts to see anything. But then he reached the very top of damned stairs and stepped out to the moonlit corridor, letting out a sigh of relief.

Oh, he could have backtracked to dining room and get a candle but he hadn't. Just because.

Well, it might have had something to do with not wishing for Nicklavs to notice his irresponsibility, he admitted thoughtfully.

As he reached his chamber's door, he acknowledged a dark, vague figure of something, lurking in the high window's nave. Mathias gasped and turned toward the weird shape instinctively.

,,For gods' sake, Lukas !" he moaned a second later, placing a hand on his heart in a half-mock fear. ,,Are you so determined to have me frightened no matter how ?"

Lukas looked up at him over the book he was reading, his face unsmiling. Fullmoon's light was illuminating the nave but was it enough to actually read something ?

Since Lukas had occupied only one of two wide, wooden benches, Mathias quickly sat on the other one and grinned.

,,I used to sit here with Nicklavs when we were kids and watch the knights practicing sword fighting on the courtyard."

Lukas still haven't responded. He was staring through the window, looking rather pensively.

They were sitting like this, opposite each other for quite a time. Lukas not moving his eyes from the window, Mathias not moving his own from the other man. Oddly enough, it felt just fine.

Eventually Lukas moved his sight at Mathias. His eyes looked like they hadn't been just reflecting the moonlight but actually absorbing some of it and getting that silvery-blue, ethereal colour they had once their eyes met.

It surely was spectacular but also made Mathias having to force down a desire to ask him what kind of fairytale creature he was.

,,Isn't that too dark for reading ?" he asked instead, his voice unusually quiet.

,,Wouldn't be even without the moon." came Lukas' honest reply.

,,How come you can do all the stuff in darkness ?" tried Mathias, half-expecting any answer. To his surprise, Lukas smirked slightly.

,,Heritage." he replied tersely, his eyes showing subtle amusement.

,He knows I'm aware of him not being human.' realised Mathias. ,Knows and teases me with all the hints and allusions.'

He grinned at Lukas merrily.

,,Anyway, why are you sitting practically at my door ?"

,,I had something to tell you."

,,But still, why did you wait here ? You could have told me long ago when I was downstairs. Or after today I'd rather expect to find you inside since you show no respect for private territory at all. How North-fashioned."

Mathias was getting back to his old, playful way of talking to Lukas.

,,So now you want me to await you in your bedroom ?" questioned Lukas in a cold, disdainful voice but with a hint of his...pixiness persisted in those still slightly silvery eyes.

Mathias exploded with laughter, partly to hide the fact that Lukas' taunt might have had a grain of truth in it. Strangely hot shivers ran down his spine swiftly, reminding him why he should pray for Lukas to be gone soon and for good before his very presence will drive him crazy.

,,So what is it ?" he asked, his voice winded from intense laughter.

,,I'm leaving tonight." he said blankly, finally slamming the book lying on his lap. It seemed so typical for him to always slam things in a loudest possible way, rather than close them. This time the sound of it made Mathias flinch a tiny bit. Or it was just because of the words he heard.

,, Tonight like...tonight ?" he asked, quite thoughtlessly, sounding surprised. It was very late after all, something about midnight.

,,No, tonight like free months ago." replied Lukas with cold irony and Mathias chuckled.

,,You're pretty late then."

Lukas' face was saying ,you're being such a nitwit' and Mathias let out a short laughter despite of actual feeling like one. Or at least like his emotions had been turned into one big mess and now he couldn't even sort them out.

,,You know you could just simply ride away in the morning, there's no reason to sneak out."

,,No, it has to be tonight." said Lukas obstinately.

,,What about your horse ? How are you going to take it with you then ? It's not like you can use the drawbridge without waking up the entire castle."

Lukas sighed impatiently and stood up, looking down at Mathias, his eyes all dark again.

,,It's not mine and there's not enough space for horses on our ships' boards so it better stay here than be left alone outside after we leave." explained Lukas with bored expression.

,,So, good luck then." wished him Mathias with wide, forced smile, standing up as well and, as narrow as the nava was and with him being much taller, it made Lukas rise up his chin to catch Mathias' sight.

,,So dense..." sighed Lukas, sneering slightly. ,,You think I know all the secret passages in here ? It's obvious you have to lead me out."

,,No way !" moaned Mathias. ,,I'll show you the entrance to the tunnel and it'll lead you off itself, there's nothing simpler than that." he offered, knowing already from the look in Lukas' eyes that it won't pass.

And he was so painfully right to think that.

* * *

,,Gods, stop grinning like some utter lunatic." snarled Lukas, in spite of his eyes fixed straight ahead and not even casting a backwards glance.

,,How do you know I'm grinning ?" asked Mathias is astonishment. After all, Lukas was a few steps ahead of him as they were walking along old, cobwebbed tunnel. It had been built long ago in case of a fatal siege but Mathias only associated it with all the times he or his brother had used it to sneak out of the castle against father's bans. Well, in fact it had always been Mathias who used it regularly. And perhaps that's why he got so joyful now, it reminded him of his childhood adventures that had usually started with using the tunnel.

,,It's just so exciting !" he cheered, quickening his pace a bit to catch up with Lukas. In wobbly light of a candle held by Mathias, the other man's face turned out to be expressionless, his eyes distant and cold.

,,Extremely." he replied flatly.

Mathias chuckled. It felt weird to be in such high spirits and yet deep down being so torn. He couldn't decide whether he was more contended with getting back his normal, not dominated by odd fascinations life or felt uneasy with the thought of not seeing Lukas ever again.

,,Are you planning to just walk all the way back to those caves ?" he asked, as always undiscouraged by Lukas' cool reluctance. ,,It took us nearly whole day with horses, you know ?"

,,I know, I was there." scoffed Lukas, still not bothering to look at him.

,,Then how..." started Mathias, but with his sight and attention focused entirely on the other man, he stumbled and almost dropped the candle. As soon as he caught his balance back, he bursted into unhampered laughter.

Lukas was watching him, his gaze unfathomable, until Mathias managed to calm down and shot him a cheeky grin.

,,You're so..." Lukas cut short and shaked his head with annoyance before Mathias could learn how the other man saw him. It didn't really sound insultingly though, more as if Lukas was somewhat unbalanced.

It didn't take long before they reached the tunnel's end with a square trapdoor in low ceiling above their heads. It was covered with movable, same shaped stone and Mathias put down the candle to remove it.

As he did so, he felt biting, frosty air pressing into the tunnel. He smiled at Lukas.

,,See ? That was easy."

He fastened up his long, black coat and used his arms to pull himself up. When already outside, he bent over and took a glance inside.

,,Want some help ?" he asked, smirking slightly. He could expect only one answer and he grinned when it came.

,,No."

It took Lukas only seconds to pull up his nimble body with a catlike agility and stand back on his feet, looking around watchfully.

They were in a middle of a glade, almost at the edge of the forest from cliff's side. In summer it was very likely to actually hear the sea with its impetuous waves crushing against spiky rocks and solid walls down the cliff. But now there was only a poignant silence of a winter night and snow's scrunching when Lukas moved to the very middle of the glade and looked up.

Mathias followed him and did the same, half-expecting to see something extraordinary. There was nothing though. Nothing but singularly perfect, starry sky with the moon hanging high on the eastern side of it.

,,Hm, I guess that's it. Party's over and so on." he smiled, somewhat sheepishly, not sure how to say goodbye. Moreover, not sure why he felt obligated to do so, when the person leaving had only defeated him in battle, threatened his homeland, castle and family and not only took something probably precious from him but also made him actively help in it. But the worst of all was that emotional mess that person was leaving him with. Even with Lukas gone, things will never be exactly as they used to be.

Lukas turned towards him, suddenly standing really close. His expression mischievious in that pixie way of his, eyes once again silvery, dark and engrossing to the point beyond comprehension.

,,Quite the contrary, actually." he smiled, slightly but vilely.

And then, already having Mathias entirely mesmerised, he grasped him by the coat's collar and pulled him down into unhurried, lingering and yet somehow ardent kiss.

Mathias' eyes widened and then closed as his body tensed slightly at the sequence of shivers being sent down his back. The feeling of their lips pressed together, sliding slowly against each other simply took his breath away. His heart lost its rhythm, accelerating helplessly.

He didn't stand a slightest chance against what the kiss caused, or rather what Lukas somehow used it for. After few moments Mathias slided down, pale and unmoving, lying in the snow with the Northerner standing over him, composed and expressionless but for something like an amusement in those dark blue eyes.

And several warriors of his appearing soon after that as if summoned there by some kind of magic. Dark, silent silhouettes came out of forest's shadows, their horses' breaths visible as white clouds of mist.

,,Take him as well." came a blank order from Lukas as he easily bestrode a spare horse, nodding towards Mathias.

They took the cliff road, heading back west with only the moon stalking them as the witness of what had happened.


	5. Chapter 5

Lukas was standing on the deck, casually leaning on the broadside's wooden barrier and watching distant eastern horizon where rising sun had already appeared in its blinding bright glory. Relatively calm surface of the sea was gleaming, slightly howling winter wind making the sails flutter and pushing the ship on its way North.

Some of Lukas' warriors had already woken up and come out on the deck to look for any useful activities or, more likely, someone responsible for making breakfast. He ignored it however, barely noticing them nodding towards him in taciturn greetings as they were passing by. Northerners were usually men of few words, especially that early in the morning. They also seemed to pay very little attention to his withdrawn presence which they were all used to, so there was nothing to interrupt Lukas' reverie.

Not until Vladimir made his loud entrance, reckoned upon drawing everyone's attention at him. That sixteen years old boy sometimes was just so confident and full of himself and loved having all eyes set on him. Not that he wasn't worth it with that stunning looks of his and lively, friendly if slightly mischievious personality.

,,_Alo, _Lukas !" he shouted out cheerfully and hurried to the lord, his steps springy, oblivious of a few irritaded glares when the deck's calming silence was broken. He grinned at Lukas once he reached him and stood beside, leaning against the barrier light-heartedly.

Lukas casted him a quizzical look with no emotions shown. He said nothing in response but Vlad didn't seem to care.

,,_Ce faci, prieten ?_" he asked blithely, wide smile showing those exceptionally pointed canines, a little longer than other teeth of his. ,,Such a lovely weather, huh ? If it persists, we'll be done with all the sailing within less than a week. Quite dandy, _nu crezi ?_"

Lukas smiled at him slightly, raising only one corner of his lips.

,,You don't like the sea ?"

,,_Nu prea_. I miss my feet standing on the firm ground, preferably with mountains nearby." he gave a carefree laughter.

Lukas nodded once, still smiling rather laxely and turning his sight back to the skyline, now partly covered by two other ships of his little, hired float. Next four of them could be noticed not far behind. Only eight little ships to contain all of his men comfortably.

,,I did like the caves though. There was a whole labyrinth of them, not only that part we stayed in, but I explored each tunnel and it was awesome !"

Vlad had always been strangely fond of dark, mysterious places, especially those underground. Even his favourite animals were bats, he had somewhat unnatural connection with them.

He might seem careless going deep into unknown vaulted wastes just like this but his night vision was just as perfect as Lukas' one and he distinguished himself with remarkable sense of direction, he wouldn't get lost.

That's why the Northerner never tried to stop him. And because he and Vlad were too similiar, always wanting to have things done their own way, if not by fighting then by lying, plotting or taking some immoral steps.

Talking about immoral...Lukas slightly bit his lower lip, thinking about Mathias. Well, that had to be done.

As if reading his mind, Vladimir smirked a bit, tilting his head and staring at him with curious, non-human eyes of pure crimson.

,,Now, tell me one thing. That sleeping guy in your cabin. _Cine este acesta ?" _

* * *

Mathias was waking up slowly, his head heavy, thoughts wrapped in drowsiness and strong disorientation.

,,Oh ! Luk, _uită-te! _Your _iubit_ is waking up !" he heard someone saying in a loud, joyful voice and opened his eyes to see a strange young man sitting on the bed's brink and staring at him with interest in lurid red eyes. His entrancing face fringed with silky, fair brownish-red, neck-length hair seemed jaunty and surely didn't belong to an entirely human creature.

,,Don't call him that." objected indifferent voice Mathias immidiately recognised as belonging to Lukas. He sat up carefully and looked around the cramped room with walls of darkened wood and thick glass window, looking more like a long slit right under low ceiling. There was just enough space for one proper bed and a massive desk covered with books, maps and pieces of paper. Lukas was sitting at it, studying one of the maps attentively. He raised his sight once he senced Mathias' stare. The Northerner's eyes were dark blue, cold and distant.

,,Ah, _nu_ !" red-eyed boy's oddly accented voice interrupted their wordless connection. ,,No hasty moves yet." he informed in half-earnest tone, placing both hands on Mathias' shoulders and pushing him on his back again. His smirking face was now above Mathias' one with hands pinning him to bed. But even as alluring as those red eyes were, they simply had no power over Mathias. Not like the ones of Lukas.

,,Aww_, uman..._You're kind of cute, you know ?" he purred and then smiled provocatively. Had Mathias been less weakened and confused, he'd push the boy away.

,,Vlad." came a cool warning from Lukas. ,,You can leave now."

Vladimir let out a loud, mock sigh, then smiled ferociously. Mathias' eyes widened as he acknowledged the other one's elongated, spiked canines. The boy released his shoulders from surprisingly strong grasp and stood up, leaving him astonished.

,,_Scuze_, I didn't mean to be pesterous." he said friendly, looking down at Mathias and then pulling face at Lukas who just rolled his eyes and got back to studying the map.

Mathias couldn't help having an impression that he and that Vlad would esily get along if it wasn't for weird circumstances. A gaze of crimson eyes seemed to tell him exactly the same thing before their owner winked at him playfully and left, slamming the door even more violently than Lukas used to do.

,What's with both of them and the slamming ?' wondered Mathias in a silence that fell right away.

He stretched sfiff muscles and turned his head on the pillow to take a glimpse of Lukas, still busy at the desk, looking all unavailable.

,Wait, something's wrong...'

,,Woah !" he shouted out suddenly, sitting up and looking panic-struck. ,,What the hell, Lukas ?!"

Said Northerner looked up at him in annoyance.

,,Keep your voice down, would you ?"

,,No, no way ! I can't belive that ! Where the fuck am I ? And why ?"

,,It's my ship." replied Lukas, his tone sounding as if there was nothing weird about that.

Now that he knew, Mathias realised the room factually looked more like a cabin, with the horizontal window right under the ceiling and all. So the feeling of mild swinging wasn't just him being dizzy. It was the freaking sea outside.

,,How did I even get here ?" asked Mathias, rubbing his forehead and shutting eyes. His memories were coming back in pieces.

He remembered the battle, recovering in the caves, shady deal with Lukas, taking him to the castle, even leading him out, along that old tunnel. But then how did he end up here ?

,,That's simple." explained Lukas. ,,I got you unconscious and then just made my men bring you in here."

Mathias frowned doubtfully.

,,You got me..." he cut short right away, his eyes widening as the last piece of the memory puzzle found its way to his mind.

He unwittingly raised a hand and pressed his fingertips to the mouth, as if he could somehow find traces of the kiss on his lips. He shaked his head quickly, trying to pull himself together.

,,Why did you do that ?" he asked, meaning both being kissed and taken in here, his tone slightly lost.

Lukas tilted his head.

,,There's still something you need to do for me." he announced bluntly.

Mathias snorted in disbelief.

,,Like hell I'm helping you again !"

At the moment Mathias felt as if he could grasp Lukas' shoulders and shake him roughly until he realised just how wrong was what he had done. Not that he could ever really do so without Lukas showing his dangerous, wicked side or simply having Mathias literally enchanted by his eerie, breathtaking self.

,,You are, unless you don't want to get back home ever again." replied Lukas, his eyes steel-cold.

,,Yeah, like you wouldn't just use me again for some other shady plotting of yours, once this one is done." scoffed Mathias.

,,There's just this one."

,,No, there will always be something, because you can't deal with people any other way than playing them and using. I've seen enough of this while living with my father. I'm not doing that again."

For a quick moment Lukas looked like he actually heard him out, but then his expression went blank again.

,,Sorry, no choice this time."

Mathias let out a loud cry of helpless fury. He jumped out of bed, walked up to the desk, clenched both hands around its edge and leaned over it, towards Lukas, sitting at the other side. He was about to give him a long lecture in morality, but he found himself speechless.

Mostly due to Lukas who, instead of looking up at once, let his almost physically perceptible gaze to take a long, leisured trip lengthways Mathias' bare chest until their eyes met. Then Lukas curved his lips in the slightest of smiles and that was it.

Defeated and disarmed.

,,Damn you, Nor !" snarled Mathias, shortening ,Northerner' smoothly. ,,I'm not playing this game with you."

He walked out of the cabin, oblivious to the fact he was wearing nothing but trousers. And then he slammed the door behind him. Really loud and hard.

* * *

Each blast of icy, sea-scented wind had Mathias freezing more and more as he was standing on the deck, deep in thoughts, his back leaning against the wooden wall.

He had come up here to see with his own eyes whether they really were already that far from shore but now he just didn't know what to do next. He couldn't go back to Lukas' cabin, not after that damn, insane pixie got him far beyond angry. And he certainly couldn't stay here too, not in that half-naked outfit.

But all he could think about was Nicklav's reaction once he'd found his little brother gone again.

Just how exactly had his life gotten so impossibly messed up in less than a week ? And more important, how will he fix it ?

Not knowing neither answers nor miracle solutions, Mathias leaned back his head, eyes shut and let out an unhappy, bitter laughter. He was officially doomed.

* * *

_Vladimir is obviously Romania. I so love writing him, I just hope he won't take all the spotlights of the story being that fabulous little freak I imagined him as. And I promise I'll try not to put him everywhere though ;)_

_ Translation of parts in Romanian:_

_Alo - Hi_

_Ce faci, prieten ? - How are you, friend ?_

_Nu crezi ? - Don't you think ?_

_Nu prea - Not much, hardly._

_Cine este acesta ? - Who is that ?_

_Uită-te! - Look !_

_Iubit - Loved one, lover, sweetheart etc._

_Nu - No._

_Uman - Human._

_Scuze - Sorry._

_ If the plot gets boring or anything, don't hesitate to mention that. I'd really, truly like to know what you think of the story and constructive criticism is always welcome, right ? _

_ AllyMCainey: I actually felt kinda sorry for Nicklavs back then ;)_


	6. Chapter 6

Mathias started to lose feeling in his limbs, beginning from bare feet which seemed to hold him standing only owing to being already stone-frozen. His hands, now pulled deep down into pockets were no better.

,I'll get pneumonia if I stay here any longer. It's not really that cold but the wind makes that small frost ten times worse.' he thought, glaring at two middle-aged Northerners passing him by. They both had warm, fur coats and that got Mathias seriously envious.

Men, however, didn't pay much attention to him, all he got were quick, indifferent glances as if it was all the time they got to see half-naked, kidnapped stranger freezing on their deck. If he was about to stand on the ship's bow and jump overboard, probably everyone would just ignore that as well.

He snorted with grudge after the warriors but they couldn't hear him no more.

,,Enjoying nice weather, _nu-i asa _?" he heard softly-accented voice he recognised right away. He turned to Vladimir to met his friendly, yet slightly mischievous stare. The boy was wearing heavy, deep-scarlet coat that only emphasised his red irises.

Mathias shrugged, not really in a mood for joking.

,,Oh, yeah, you know, it's very refreshing."

Vlad gave a short laughter, his thin fangs visible.

,,I assume you and Luk had a fight." he grinned. It sounded odd in Mathias' ears, as if he was talking about some long-stage couple widely known for frequent, dramatic arguments and reconciliations.

He shaked his head in annoyance.

,,It's not really a fight when you don't even get to state your opinion, not to mention actual fighting at all, now is it ?" he asked bitterly, wondering why did he feel like he could tell this and more to that weird boy.

Vlad rolled his eyes and clucked loudly.

,,Luk really sucks at building healthy, normal relations with people, _zău_ !"

,That's why...' thought Mathias, pulling up a somewhat weak smile.

,,Now, what are we going to do with you ?" Vlad was wondering aloud, tapping on his lower lip with one finger and staring at Mathias pensively. ,,_Sigur _! I'll take you to my cabin."

Looking proud of his idea, Vladimir grasped Mathias' frozen wrist and pulled him into a quick march towards doors, almost causing him to fall down due to feet he barely felt anymore.

,,Wait, what ?" asked Mathias uncertainly as they were coming under the deck and passing a few doors.

,,Don't sound so scared, it's not that bad in there, although it's tiny. But what's most imporant, it's warm." replied red-eyed boy cheerfully.

He suddenly stopped in front of the door Mathias already knew belonged to Lukas. He was just about to object, when Vlad raised one hand and waged his finger at the closed door ostentatiously.

,,It's not nice to toy with people, Luk !" he said in lowered but apodictic tone. ,,And now you lost that cutie !" his expression showed he was trying not to laugh, crimson eyes bright with wild amusement.

It was so ridiculous, Mathias couldn't help but burst out with laughter.

,,See ? Now I told him, oh I did !" said Vlad, only making it better, since there was no way Lukas heard him from inside the cabin.

Vladimir grinned cheekily and pulled Mathias away from there, walking to the very end of narrow corridor and opening the door to his own place. When they entered, he slammed it back shut.

He hadn't been joking saying his cabin was tiny. There was merely enough space for a bed, two saddle panniers with his stuff and some kind of brazier that was emiting such amount of warmth, it made Mathias shudder with sudden feeling of his body's thawing. He recalled seeing a similar heater in Lukas' room, but it must have been used much less efficiently than in here.

If it wasn't for a long, disproportionately big window, he'd most likely feel a bit trapped as he always did in small, closed spaces. Good thing that ship was built with the most recent trends, older ones usually didn't have such fancy things like windows.

,,_Poftim_, feel free to make yourself home. It's not much but I couldn't sleep in the common cabin with others." he said smiling oddly.

Mathias sat at the bed and wrapped himself tightly in woolen blanket it had been covered with.

,,Why's that ?" he asked, intrigued by a hint of disappointment in his new friend's voice.

,,Oh, you know, I'd probably give half of them nightmares or sleeplessness, _este evident_." he replied lightly, though his smile felt somehow forced. ,,That's pity since they get to sleep in those stunning hummocks in there."

Mathias nodded once and was about to say something comforting, when Vlad turned around and put a hand on a door handle.

,,Wait here, I'll bring you something I bet you've never tried before." he said in his usual joyful voice and left.

By the time Vladimir was back, handling two vaporous mugs, Mathias had warmed up properly. He was sitting in the bed's corner, his back leaned against the wall. He frowned a bit when Vlad handed him one of the mugs and smelled it suspiciously.

,,It's coffee." explained red-eyed boy, taking off his coat and sitting comfortably opposite Mathias. ,,People further South then I come from drink it all the time. They make it from those funny, dark brown beans. It's quite tasty, especially with milk and honey, just try it !"

He was smiling, watching Mathias take a sip from his mug.

,,_Și ce_ _? __Îți place _?"

Even though he didn't really understand the words, Mathias knew what Vlad was asking about.

,,Passable, I guess." he grinned. ,,I'd still rather have a mug of mulled beer."

The boy snorted with laughter.

,,Good thing Lukas didn't hear you. He's so obsessed with coffee. He even invented his own method to drink it, he adds some butter instead of milk. Good thing it's rather easy to get from Southern merchants who bother to visit all those Northern seaports, otherwise we might be forced to sail all that way ourselves just to pack our ships with coffee and take it home."

Mathias also laughed, imagining Lukas invading some random Southern harbour with his warriors and robbing it of all the coffee he could find. He would totally do that.

Spending time with Vlad turned out to be extremely easy and very soon Mathias found himself relaxed and back in his high spirits. They chattered casually and laughed a lot as if they knew each other for much longer than few hours.

,,Well, I kinda expected Lukas to not let go of you, once he realised who you were during that battle." confessed Southern boy after Mathias mentioned that subject. ,,It's always like that, _stii_ ? He's stubborn, kind of ruthless too and if he wants something, he usually gets it one way or another."

Mathias sighed. Those words pretty much described the impression Lukas gave him.

,,Why would he still need me anyway ? I already got him that weird stone."

Vlad bit his lower lip, somehow managing not to cut it open with one of those exceptional canines. Then he shrugged and Mathias understood that even if the boy knew something, he didn't feel like telling him. Out of loyalty, perhaps.

Suddenly Vladimir grinned with somewhat playful gleam in crimson eyes.

,,But he's plain stunning even though, _nu este el_ ?"

And here Mathias couldn't disagree, no matter how much he wished he could.

* * *

Soon after their talk, Vladimir left Mathias alone in the cabin, saying something about duties on the deck. Before leaving, the boy lent him one of his tunics. It was flamboyantly red and barely fitted him since Vlad was shorter and smaller than him, but obviously Mathias was grateful for that anyway.

After few hours of daydreaming and trying to read some weird book he had found lying on the floor by the bed, Mathias felt utterly bored. He needed to go out, meet some people, talk to someone. Even if the ship was full of taciturn Northerners.

Vlad had told him where the kitchen was, so naturally Mathias went there first. When he entered, he instantly found himself captivated by the smell he remembered just too well from his childhood. It must have been sjömansgryta, traditional beef goulash, invented by ships' cooks due to easiness of preparing and extremely popular throughout the Northern lands.

In a dark, windowless kitchen the only thing bright was a wide fireplace with a large, dumpy pot hanging above it, small fire dancing underneath. Mathias took several steps towards it, when he was brought to a halt by someone's hoarse, grumpy voice.

,,Oi, you, sneaky brat, I'm not sleeping that deep ! Nobody steals from _my _kitchen !"

Mathias halted at once and turned back, squinting his eyes to see through darkness. In the fire's weak light he could only notice there was a tall, middle-aged man standing behind a small table. He looked like one of Lukas' warriors, his beard divided into two short braids, eyes still blurred with sleepiness but the look in them rather sharp and hostile.

Mathias decided to play it his usual way. He grinned and shrugged a little.

,,Oh, sorry, I didn't know anyone would be here."

The man didn't smile back.

,,You're only making it worse, boy." he warned.

,,I just wanted something to eat and Vlad told me to come here if I was hungry." explained Mathias, running a hand through his already messy hair with somewhat uncertain smile.

The warrior remained silent for a moment before he snorted with oddly growling laughter. He went from behing the table and patted Mathias' shoulder heavily with a huge hand, almost causing his knees to bend.

,,Now I see." he said, his tone much more friendly than before. ,,Sit down, I'll get you some food."

Mathias did as he was told and soon enough the kitchen was lit up by candles, the man placed a deep bowl of sjömansgryta in front of him and sat at the other side of table.

,,I'm Reidulf." he introduced himself.

,,Mathias."

,,So you're that aristocratic little lad Lukas brought with him."

Mathias shrugged.

,,I guess." he replied between two fullspoons of the goulash. Either it tasted amazingly good or he was a bit starved. After all, he didn't have a proper meal since the first night in the castle and little beer-snacks with his brother that evening...yesterday ? Was it really only a day ?

,,You don't look too dandy though." noticed the man. ,,I always say Northerners don't dress up in girly clothes, even if they're lords."

Mathias looked up in surprise.

,,Girly clothes ?" he repeated on the edge of laughing.

,,Sure. All those laces, pastel colours and shiny shoes Westerners love so much. It makes them look like pretty, little posh dolls. Vladimir says they're just being elegant but I know he teases me a bit when he does that."

Mathias almost choked on the last spoon of his food when the laughter just boiled over out of him.

,,Pretty, little posh dolls, oh gods..." he mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. He remembered Westerners visiting his father every now and then and some of them could be described this way indeed.

,,You're quite right actually. They do have a weakness for that swish look and don't seem to notice it's just too much."

Reidulf grinned a bit stiffly like it's been a while since he did it last time.

,,Their hairstyles though." he said.

Both man exchanged amused glances and started to laugh.

Much later as Mathias was back in Vlad's cabin, his stomach aching a little due to amount of laughter he had got during one day, he thought he might even start enjoying the time spent on that ship.

He was still angry with Lukas, but to be honest, from the very start it was all about the way Northerner took him here, not because he did it at all.

And because it left Nicklavs all worried and not knowing what had happened.

* * *

It was already dark outside when Mathias was suddenly awakened by the door being slammed open, hard enough to hit the wall inside. He sat up straight at once, pretty confused.

,,Oh, _scuze_ !" apologised Vlad in a scenic whisper. ,,I didn't mean to scare you."

Odd tone in his voice on last words told Mathias that particular one was a sentence he used a lot. He was smiling though, his face merely visible, lit only by a dying candle on the floor by the bed.

,,I wasn't sure if you were still here. Thought maybe Lukas dragged you back into his cabin or something." he grinned, red eyes gleaming unearthly.

,,No way." murmured Mathias and yawned. ,,Wait, I took your only bed." he realised, his expression quite embarrassed.

Vladimir laughed quietly.

,,It's all right, I'll sleep somewhere else."

,,Shouldn't I be the one doing that ? And I thought you couldn't sleep in the common cabin." Mathias bit his lower lip, feeling bad about causing his new friend trouble.

,,_Ah nu, clar_, I won't." he smiled, shaking his head and placed one hand on the door handle. ,,Don't worry about it. Lukas won't mind me sleeping with him, he's rather used to that after all. _Vise plăcute_ !"

He went out, leaving Mathias to take the full impact of what he just heard. It souded so..._obvious_ to him.

,Are those two...' he wondered, biting his lower lip and unsure of just how it made him feel.

No, he knew that one. What he was confused about was how to feel about those feelings and what did they mean in the first place. All his emotions were so damn tangled.

,How messed up.'

* * *

_Okay, I'm not really satified with that chapter. It had a lot of Vlad though, so I cannot complain, I had some fun writing it ;)_

_Next one will be better, I hope. _

_ Translations:_

_Nu-i asa ? - don't you ?_

_Zău - really _

_Sigur - Of course _

_Poftim - please/ here you are_

_Este evident - it's obvious_

_Și ce ? Îți place ? - and what ? do you like it ?_

_Stii ? - you know ?_

_Nu este el ? - isn't he ?_

_Scuze - sorry_

_Ah, nu, clar - oh, no, obviously  
_

_Vise plăcute - sweet dreams_


	7. Chapter 7

,,You're so going back to Lukas' cabin after last damn night."

Vladimir's voice sounded both serious and flippant as he entered the kitchen abruptly and sat down at the bench by the table.

Mathias and Reidolf looked up at him from above their mugs of hot, fresh made coffee and then exchanged stumped glances. It wasn't that usual to see cheerful Vlad this way and even Mathias felt there was something wrong, though he only knew the boy less than two days.

,,But...why ?" he objected faintly. Meanwhile, Reidolf stood up, approached the fireplace and poured some boiling hot coffee from the small pot to a mug. He placed it in front of Vlad then, sitting back on the narrow bench and smiling.

,,You looked like you could use some of it." he explained.

,,Yes, indeed I do. _Mulţumesc!_" Vlad put a grateful smile on his face and took a sip from the mug. Then he turned to Mathias and answered his question.

,,Because there's no way in hell I'm coming back there any soon." he sighed, tilting his head and massaging neck with one hand, his expression a bit painful. ,,I'm so tired and sleepy as if I haven't slept at all. And I'm all bruised too, I can feel that, my whole body is like I've been beaten-up."

Reidolf burst out with laughter but Mathias just sat there quite stunned. What was that supposed to mean ?

,,Yeah, you wouldn't laugh if you've been treated this way." mumbled Vlad but corners of his lips were flickering from supressed smile.

,,But what exactly did he do this time ?" asked Reidolf amusedly but before Vladimir had a chance to say something more, his attention was caught up in something else.

,,What the hell, Mat ?!" he shouted all of a sudden, staring at Mathias' right hand, leaned on the table. ,,What's that, _ce_ ?"

,,Aah, it's nothing, I just got distracted while boiling water for coffee and it kind of happend." he replied with an embarrassed smile, instinctively reaching his left hand to cover a nasty, bright red streak of scald spreaded across his inner wrist.

,,That's what happens when you space out while dealing with hot things." cut in Reidolf grumpily.

Mathias snorted in mock indignation.

,,I did not do such thing."

,,You were spacing out like a little girl, daydreaming about some perfect, noble, non-existing prince she'd like to marry."

Both Mathias and Vlad burst into laughter and even Reidolf smiled, though his face was saying ,those little morons can't do anything right in kitchen'.

,,It doesn't look good, you should apply some herbal cream onto it." said Vladimir, becoming serious. ,,Our healer, Helsa, is on another ship, but I'm quite sure Luk has something like that too."

,,Naah, I'll be fine. I already put some ice on it." shrugged Mathias.

,,Right." Vlad covered his mouth with one hand and yawned. ,,I feel so exhausted. I think I'll go get some sleep, my place of course." he announced, finishing his coffee and standing up.

,,Oh, before I forget, Mat, I took some clothes of yours from Luk's cabin so if you want to go outside or something, come and take them before I fall asleep."

,,Clothes ?" asked Mathias, frowning.

,,_Da_, the ones Luk brought with you from the castle. It's not like he took you here all spontanously, now is it ?" he grinned and grabbed Mathias' hand, pulling him out of kitchen.

* * *

It felt good to put on his old, familiar clothes, and so did being able to stay on the deck for longer now that he had his warm coat and boots.

Mathias couldn't really stand staying in cramped cabins for much longer, he'd missed open space, fresh air and the sheer blue infinity of the sky above. Since the day was so perfect and sunny, he stayed outside pretty long, walking along the board and being succesfully ignored by Northerners, doing their jobs in silence or having short conversations occasionally.

He was leaning against the wooden barrier of ship's side and watching the rest of Lukas' small float sailing not far behind them when he realised he was no longer alone. Lukas was standing beside him, his stare focused on the distant skyline.

After not seeing the Northerner for almost a whole day and night, now he felt weird facing him so unprepared. And the hopelessly stupid heart of his lost its rhythm for a few seconds.

He looked away from Lukas' pale, perfect face and before he could stop himself, he grinned and greeted him as if they weren't in a middle of serious conflict.

,,Hello there !"

Lukas slowly turned to him and raised one eyebrow in surprise, not bothering to greet him back.

Mathias rebuked himself inwardly for not controlling mindless impulses. He should have shown Lukas that he's still angry with him. Even though he wasn't. He wanted to be but it just didn't happen. All he felt was a dash of resentment and the whole load of...different things.

But to be honest, what would raging get him ? Lukas didn't care anyway, only determained to achieve what he'd planned and clearly inconsiderate of everyone else.

,,You could at least tell me more about where we're going and what for." he said, casting a sideway glance at the other man.

,,What for ?" asked Lukas flatly.

Mathias let out a loud, irritated sigh and started to tap his fingerst quickly against the barrier's hard surface.

,,Because ! Oh, gods, I have every right to find out. And I'm already here, it's not like you can keep your reasons in secret for much longer."

Lukas rolled his eyes and curved his lips in a small, spiteful smile.

,,Exactly, you're here, no coming back until it's done. You'll get to know eventually, so why are you that eager to hear that right away. It doesn't really matter since you have no choice anyway."

,,Now you're starting to get on my nerves again." snorted Mathias, trying to tear his stare from Lukas, standing close enough to see a cool amusement twinkling in dark blue eyes. Cold wind was playing with his platinum hair, held from his face only by that thin cross hairpin. And those unearthly eyes, absorbing sunbeams in such a unique way that made them look like two deep, dark, half-frozen lakes.

,Why am I getting all fascinated again, despite what happened ?' Mathias was wondering. ,I don't even know what's wrong with me. And it's so unlike me, to be amicable like this. I always fight to the end, whether I win or lose, even if it's just a silly, little argument with someone close to me.'

Mathias simply wasn't capable of getting mad at Lukas again. Not when he found himself drawn in those alluring eyes, captured by that held back smile and the way it made the Northerner's features even more perfect but slightly more unhuman too.

It just wasn't possible to be angry with someone like him for a long time. Especially not when all it would take to make Mathias throw over his anger was less than a proper smile on those soft-looking lips.

,No, hold it right there, no thinking about his lips.' he warned himself with a slightest stab of panic. What was going on with him ? Was it only sheer fascination with Lukas' eerie exceptionality and changeable, incomprehensible personality ? Or maybe there was even more about it, like being interested with him in other ways than just natural admiration for something unique and beautiful beyond human standards. Ways he shouldn't really feel about another _man_.

,But I'm not like this.' he thought, biting his lower lip. ,I like girls. I've slept with them. And never before I even considered doing the same with other guys. I don't like men this way.'

Reassuring himself with that inner monologue, Mathias felt more confident about his tangled emotions. He smiled, still deep in thought. And then he remembered that his first kiss ever wasn't with a girl at all.

,Oh shit, I've already kissed a boy once.' he thought. ,Only because we were both little brats who wanted to know how it felt to kiss someone and no girls were around, so we had no other option than to share that experience with each other. It was quick and chaste but still...'

He couldn't force back a loud groan and Lukas, who apparently had been watching him all the time, now gave him a puzzled look.

,,What's that you're thinking about so intensely ?" he asked, staring at him in an inquiering way.

,Aha, like hell I'm telling you that' snorted Mathias inwardly and grinned at Lukas to cover up the uneasiness he felt under the other man's gaze.

,,Nothing, really." he forced himself to smile as well as to get back to reality. Then the intrigued look on Lukas' face made him grin for real. He chuckled, reaching his hand to tousle the Northerners' hair.

Lukas hissed at him just like an angry cat, smacking his hand and taking a step backwards.

,,Don't do that, stupid." he warned, narrowing his eyes.

Mathias couldn't keep himself from laughing. And thinking just how cute Lukas looked with his hair messed this way.

He turned to leave but stopped right away, looking over his shoulder with unusually serious expression.

,,If you need someone's help, you should rather ask for it then force them, you know ?"

Then he walked away quickly, before Lukas could start asking inconvenient questions he didn't know answers for. As the one whether Mathias would have said yes if he'd asked him back then.

* * *

Spending the rest of day with Reidolf and Vlad, back in his high spirits after getting some sleep, made Mathias feel as if he was rather on summer trip with friends than kidnapped by enemy and forced to do something mysterious and possibly dangerous.

That was until Vlad smirked with that mischievous twinkle deep in crimson eyes.

,,Aww, Mat, it's almost bed time. Shouldn't you be heading to Luk's cabin ?"

Mathias moaned laughily and ran a hand through his hair.

,,Probably. But hey, me and him, we're not fighting anymore, so how bad can it get ?" he asked a bit nervously.

,,Yeah." interrupted Reidolf. ,,Don't scare that poor boy, he's already deep enough in trouble."

,,Trouble ?!" repeated Mathias, oblivious to amused glances both his friends exchanged.

,,_Clar. _But don't worry. It's only about three nights left with that weather and all." said Vladimir casually, holding back a grin.

,,Maybe I should sleep in the common cabin ?" Mathias was wondering aloud.

,,No, no ! That's impossible." objected Reidolf quickly.

,,You're banned from the common cabin, just like me." added Vlad.

,,Am I ? Hm, that's bad."

It wasn't even that he didn't want to be that close to Lukas or was afraid of him. He was rather worried about his own doings and the state of his mind that seemed to work in strange, unknown ways lately.

He looked up just in time to catch Vlad biting his lower lip to supress laughter and Reidolf giggling soundlessly, covering his mouth tightly with one palm.

,,You're making fun of me, aren't you ?" he asked and both of them burst into laughing.

,,Sorry, it's just that you looked so uptight about it." Reidolf patted his shoulder in comforting manner.

Mathias sighed and pulled out a wide smile.

,,You dorks." he mumbled.

,,The truth is Luk isn't exactly fond of sharing his bed." started Vlad, this time not as a joke. ,,Though he doesn't mind me or you, as long as you make sure to stay on your side. Otherwise there will be some nasty consequences."

,,You should follow your own advices then." commented Reidolf, sneering at the boy.

,,I cant't help it ! If I'm in bed with someone I just can't lie still, especially when it's cold and I'm already asleep, having dreams about running away from someone, then it just happens."

Mathias was watching them attentionally, apparently quite interested in hearing more about the nature of Lukas and Vlad's relations. He already gave up his theories though, at least most of them. If they were more than just friends, Vlad wouldn't be so eager to get Mathias to end up in one bed with Lukas, would he ?

,,Did he do something to you ?" he asked, trying not to sound too curious.

Vlad turned to him, his expression torn between painful and frolicsome.

,,He pushed me out of that damn, ridiculously high bed three times. Three. Freaking. Times." he replied in half-mocked grave serious tone. ,,I was sure I broke something the third time."

Mathias couldn't stop laughing and Vlad pulled a face at him.

,,Yeah, laugh now. We'll see if you still be doing that in the morning."

,,It's not like I'm going to touch him or anything." grinned Mathias and he wasn't even lying. He had no such plans. Gods know what would happen if he actually did anything like that.

,,_Desigur, nu._" replied Vlad , quizzical smile curving his lips. ,,Anyway, good luck. I'm going to my own, safe bed."

* * *

It was quite late when Mathias entered Lukas' cabin, half-expecting the other man to be already asleep. That would be convinient but of course didn't happen.

Lukas was sitting at the desk, writing something that looked like a long letter in the dim light of only one candle. He didn't bother to look up, not until he finished writing and folded the sheet of paper in half. But then Mathias was already busy with preparing to sleep. He was standing over the bowl of water in the room's corner, absent-mindedly cleaning his teeth with mint-based herbal gunge and then rinsing it down.

,,What's that on your wrist ?"

Mathias turned around at Lukas' question. He completely forgot about the scald he'd got himself this morning.

He shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

,,I sort of burnt myself while boiling water."

Lukas didn't say anything but offensive words were written on his face. Mathias chuckled.

,,Don't make that face, it happens !"

,,Sure, especially if you're an imbecile who doesn't know how to use protecting gloves. Come here, show me that."

Mathias unwillingly walked up to the desk from Lukas' side and stopped in front of him, reaching out his right hand. The Northerner clenched his cold fingers around his wrist, his eyes focused, examining the scald.

,,Such a thoughtless way to get a scar, don't you think ?" he asked, his eyes dark and entrancing when meeting Mathias' ones, making his heart recklessly skip one beat.

Lukas opened one of the drawers and grabbed a tiny glass jar filled with a greenish gray ointment. He opened it and dipped his finger inside, pulling it out with a sizeable amount of disgusting looking content.

Mathias flinched when it was applied on his burnt skin with suprisingly gentle dabs of Lukas' fingers. The cream felt pleasurably cool and soothing. Lukas wrapped a short roll of bandage around not only his wrist but also part of hand to prevent it from displacing. When he was done with that, Mathias grinned at him.

,,Thanks."

Lukas rolled his eyes.

,,Whatever." his expression froze in indifference again. ,,Now go to sleep and let me finish what I need to do."

Still chuckling quietly, Mathias walked up to the bed, took off his boots and tunic and threw himself on the comfortably looking piece of furniture. He covered himself with the quilt and laid his head on flat pillow, stealing a glance at Lukas and getting completely caught up in gazing at him mindlessly right away. He just couldn't get enough of that picture-perfect face and the Northerner was too busy with writing to notice anyway.

He couldn't fall asleep until Lukas finally blew out the candle and laid next to him, his face turned towards the wall though. Mathias smiled on the egde of sleep and forced back a childish impuls to poke Lukas' back just to see what would happen.

Right after this, weariness took over him and he drifted off to a calm, dreamless sleep.

When he woke up in the morning, Lukas was already gone.

,Well, I haven't slept that good for a while.' thought Mathias joyfully, stretching his long body and yawning. ,And I didn't even got kicked off the bed, I guess I can consider that some kind of a success.'

* * *

Eventually it took the ships six days to sail across the Northern Sea. If the weather stayed the same, they'd see the land very next day and everyone on the deck was looking forward to that.

Even Mathias who had no idea what he should expect. He also had his mind wrapped around the picture of wild, frozen and dangerous North that no civilised man would like to explore.

He spent last four days mostly in Reidolf and Vladimir's company, chattering, helping in kitchen (to Reidolf's horror) and occasionally helping on the deck as well. His friendship with weird, complicated, crimson-eyed boy was only growing stronger and he found himself hoping that wherever they go next, Vlad would go with them.

The nights were more problematic however. Not because it was hard to sleep beside Lukas. Right the opposite rather. It was too easy to do so.

How did he grow so attached to that cold Northerner who most likely wasn't even a human being ?

Mathias enjoyed both their rare real conversations and much more frequent ones that consisted of him, talking a lot, asking questions that were left without answers, trying to get Lukas to laugh or just teasing him for no concrete reason.

Despite calling him annoying, dumb and so on or even using some physical violence every now and then, Lukas didn't seem to really mind him being around.

The only thing that still kept him confused and flustered were those odd needs and longings he felt towards Lukas. If it was some girl, things would be pretty obvious but...He didn't even want to ponder on that too intensely, afraid of what he might find out about himself.

It wasn't only like being attracted to someone in an usual way. It was something more fascinating, unearthly, ungraspable.

Not that Mathias minded all of it that much. As long as it was Lukas, he honestly, recklessly didn't mind. Though he probably should.

And above all, Lukas didn't return that load of vague, messed up emotions so it was rather safe to feel this way, wasn't it ? It wasn't like anything real had a chance to happen anyway. Or like he expected that unclear _anything _to happen.

Mathias let out a resigned laughter and looked up at the sapphire blue sky.

,I'm so doomed.'

* * *

,,We'll sail into the fjord tonight." announced Lukas, stepping into the cabin and slamming the door behind him. ,,That means we'll reach the Ingenbølger harbour tomorrow's morning."

Mathias, who didn't even finished putting on his clothes after long awaited bath all crew could take this afternoon, looked up at him and brightened in a smile.

,,Isn't that this seaport where the water is always still as a lake ?" he asked with real interest, forgetting about fastening the shirt and leaving it showing his chest and flat stomach, both decently muscular.

,,Duh, that's why it's called this way." replied Lukas, raising one eyebrow and half-sitting on the desk's surface.

,,This is awesome !" Mathias grinned.

,,Gods, do you even know what a fjord is ? Water is usually still in there, and no wonder it is since it's surrounded by mountains." snorted Lukas, rolling his eyes. ,,That place must have been named by some Southern morons."

Mathias blinked few times and burst into laughter. Knowing perfectly well it would annoy Lukas, he reached his hand and pushed the other's shoulder in a frivolous manner.

,,Oi, there's no need to be so mean." he laughed.

Lukas scowled a bit and shaked his head with irritation. His hair was darker than usual, still wet after the bath but already holded by silver cross hairpin and Mathias for umpteenth time asked himself what exactly was that thing to Lukas. Because for sure it wasn't just a meaningless jewelry like the ones of Westerners and those rather short hair of his didn't really need to be held from his face by anything neither.

,,Why are you wearing this thing all the time ?" he asked, taking one more step towards Lukas to get a better look. ,,Is that some confidential, distinguishing sign of some secret organization so members could recognize each other ?"

,,Isn't your imagination carring you away now ?" Lukas' voice was cool and blank but his eyes showed a slight amusement.

,,Oh come on, what is it ? Ooh, wait ! I know, it's the source of your supernatural powers ! That's why you can never take it off !" Mathias shouted laughily, grinning and surely having some proper fun.

,,Seriously ?" asked Lukas, rolling his eyes. He did it a lot while dealing with Mathias.

,,Then what ? Can i touch it ?"

,,No."

Regardless Lukas' protests, Mathias raised one hand and quickly touched a shiny hairpin but nothing happened, except for the fact he was standing definitely too close to the Northerner now.

,,Gods, you're so deranged sometimes." Lukas bit his lower lip as if trying not to smile. Mathias couldn't resist pulling it further.

,,I'm sure if you take it off, you'll become invisible ! Or you'll lose your human form and turn back into something else." he managed to say in spite of laughter boiling over him.

,,Invisible ? Something else? Oh merciful gods, take this freak away from me."

,,You're just raging because I revealed your darkest secret."

Here it was ! Lukas' lips pulled up in a smile, small one but still it was something. Mathias grinned at him victoriously.

,,Can I take it off ?" he asked all of a sudden.

,,No way !" objected Lukas, placing both hands on his bare chest and trying to ineffectively shove him away. The touch sent shivers down Mathias' spine, not only because those hands were so cold against his warm skin.

,,Just kidding." said Mathias, his grin persisting. ,,I don't want you to vanish into the air."

Lukas' hands on his chest made him all tense and his body felt weird, as if it suddenly needed something more than regular breaths to go on and his heart was confused whether it should accelerate or rather skip some beats.

,,No one can do such thing." replied Lukas, his eyes so dark and ravishing, so breathtaking with that unexpected pixie twinkle in them. His smile widened wickedly and before Mathias could even blink, Lukas grasped his shirt with both hands, pulled him close and captured his lips in a simply electrifying kiss.

Long, intense kiss with a dash of ferocity and Lukas' hands making him shudder only by moving slowly lengthwise his chest.

Not that Mathias remained passive. He was so far from that, kissing Lukas back and making the whole thing even more fiery, messing the other's hair with one hand and pulling him closer by the waist with other one.

He was so close to lose every last piece of self-control, his lower lip bitten by Lukas almost hard enough to make it bleed, the feeling of their bodies barely pressed together, all of that was far beyond things he could take with any composure.

When Lukas broke the kiss and shoved him away, both of them were breathing unevenly. Lukas' face didn't show much expression though but his eyes, they were on fire. Cold, dark blue fire.

He left without even a single word, only with that catty smirk and intangible glance he threw at Mathias, passing him by and leaving him all hot and stunned.

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed that chapter ;)_

_ Translations:_

_Mulţumesc! - thank you _

_Da - yes_

_Desigur - of course not_


	8. Chapter 8

,,Ooh, woah, that's so huge !" said Mathias in astonishment.

,,I know, right ?" Vlad chuckled.

,,So spectacular, just makes you stop for a while only to appreciate it and leaves you with that feeling you're so small compared to the sheer awesomeness of this." Mathias sighed.

They both nodded unanimously, staring in awe at the stark scenery of the fjord.

It'd been several hours since they entered that narrow passage of sea, pressed between what looked like two rows of mountains, parallel to each other. High, impressive mountains that seemed to grow up vertically from the sea and close it in tight, intimidating grasp. And then that gloomy, cloudy weather with those long straps of fog above and almost perfectly still, gray surface of water all around the ship.

,,_Da, sigur._ And it looks somewhat enchanted, don't you think ? Especially now."

,,Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised at all if I saw a couple of trolls clenching onto these rocks and glaring at us."

,,Me neither ! Oh, how I wish it actually happened !"

Mathias snorted with laughter.

,,Nah, man, trolls are vicious. My brother used to tell me scary stories about them when I was a kid and he wanted to stop me from sneaking out of the castle in the middle of night. It didn't work though, I mean, it's not like he could trick me into beliving they were real." he grinned, remembering how he used to take his little, wooden sword with him every night since Nicklavs came up with that bunch of old, gory fairytales.

,,They are." came a bored voice from behind their backs. Both of them turned around in surprise to face Lukas, his indifferent eyes set on flat peaks.

,,What ?!" the question slipped out of Mathias' mouth before he acknowledged it.

Lukas slowly moved cool gaze at him.

,,Trolls. They _do_ exist."

Was it the shocking news that made Mathias felt so odd and flinch a bit or just meeting Lukas for a first time since they kissed yesterday ?

That kiss. That one, restraint-stealing kiss, a trigger to his realisation that he really _was_ into Lukas in all the wrong ways. And he didn't even feel bad about it.

,I should at least feel bad about not feeling bad because of that.' he thought chaotically and almost laughed. After all...it wasn't like he gave a damn, not as long as it was Lukas. Just because that man seemed someting else, in Mathias' understanding he just couldn't be put in the same categories as the rest of the world.

That's why Mathias grinned at him cheekily all of sudden, undiscouraged by Lukas' lack of reaction.

,Oh, I'll get you to show me more of that emotional blizzard you've got to keep burried deep inside. Just wait and see...' he thought, at once growing excited for his lately favourite challenge.

Lukas' eyes narrowed just a tiny bit, but was it a serious warning ? Doubtfully.

Vlad, seeing those two having some sort of wordless conversation, remained quiet too. His crimson eyes were shuffling from Mathias to Lukas with genuine interest, a playful smirk blossoming on his lips while doing so. Finally some proper entertainment in a range of sight, or was his intuition deceiving him ?

* * *

Ingenbølger seaport was nothing like the ports Mathias had ever seen before and yet it looked like a typical one.

Several ships were moored alongside the coast, few more floating in a narrow bay. Few of them looked as if they came from someplace South.

Numerous wooden buildings were all painted different colours, making the streets look like rainbows and Mathias had to smile. It was so unexpected from infamous North to be so _colourful_.

It was bad he didn't get to spend even a little time exploring that place. Not with Lukas dragging him and Vlad from ship straight to some stables.

,,We left few of our horses in here before heading South, you know ?" Vlad explained as they were following Lukas' fast walking down the colourful street, carrying their baggage, reduced to only as much as necessary. In Mathias' case one packed bag was everything he had with him anyway, but the whole rest of other's stuff stayed on the ship. So did the warriors and Mathias just had to ask Lukas about it.

,,Not your buisness." said the Northerner, not even bothering to look at him. Mathias pulled a face at him and turned the same question to Vladimir.

,,Oh, they will take their time packing all things from eight ships and preparing for that road, it's not that close from here after all. It's only us who'll get there that soon but just wait until you'll see the horses, I mean, man, you've never see the ones like them."

Those last words sounded quite dreamy and Mathias casted him a curious glance. Horses really were his thing so if there were some special ones, obviously he was interested in seeing them.

,,Where are we going anyway ?" he asked instead.

,,Ah, first stop in our road, Luk's castle."

,,Isn't that somewhere really far North ?"

From what little he had heard about gruesome, self-appointed lord, he knew the lands in his possession were somewhere up Northern wastes and mountains.

,,_Nu_, not that castle." Vlad laughed. ,,But he's got more of them, don't you, Luk ?"

Lukas looked away over his shoulder but said nothing. Vlad chuckled quietly.

,,Well, in fact two castles." he continued in unconcerned tone. ,,The one we're heading to is like a day of riding from here."

,,I see." Mathias grinned. A castle sounded familiar, as if they hadn't even left his homeland. And comfortable, it would be nice to at last spend some time in civilised conditions. He could honestly use a long sleep in a soft bed without having to cringe at its edge just because Lukas didn't want to be touched. Or he could toss said cutie on that bed, pin him to the mattress and make him beg for more of that touch instead...

,Shit, no, no thinking about that now.' Mathias shaked his head rapidly, trying to get rid of unwanted images sneaking into his head. Well, unwanted wasn't really the word for it but surely he didn't want them to haunt him in that particular time.

Luckily enough they already reached the stables, that happened to be painted pale blue, and his attention was drawn by going events.

The owner seemed a bit flustered while Lukas was paying him for taking care of his horses. The man's eyes kept on avoiding both Lukas' and Vlad's stares as if he was afraid of being jinxed by the unearthly looking customers.

Mathias noticed Vlad scowling slightly. The boy certainly didn't like people acting like that towards him. But how the man could be blamed when the next thing Vladimir did was winking at him jauntily and smiling widely on purpose of showing his pointed canines.

That was mean but also made Mathias snort with muffled laughter when the owner's eyes widened in panic and he hurried back to his office. Vlad grinned at his friend cheekily as they turned to follow Lukas who was approaching three cramped stalls.

Horses must have recognized his steps because all three of them showed up right away, peeping out of stalls' windows. They were all midnight black coloured, eyes sparkling with fiery tempers, profiles visibly concave in the way only occuring in one, well known Southern bred, Ahnabi horses.

Lukas actually found a moment to say something very quietly to each horse and caress their slightly arcuate, shiny necks. He seemed way more relaxed around animals than around people.

Vlad ran up to one of the horses and put both hands on its jaw bones, planting a quick kiss right between wide nostrils. Animal neighed friendly in response.

,,_Frumuseţe_, did you miss me ? My sweet girl, I'm not leaving you again !" he was chirping, looking in those black, surprisingly sharp eyes.

Mathias just had to smile, seeing that. When he looked up, Lukas was watching him, his fingers tangled into his own horse's mane.

,,That one over there is yours. For now. Her name's Negma. Make sure you'll treat her well." he said, pointing a finger at the third horse, the one in last stall.

Passing Lukas by, Mathias casted him a tiny smirk.

,,Like I could ever treat horses bad. Are they Ahnabi ?" he asked, reaching one hand with palm sided up towards the mare. She took a careful sniff and Mathias raised it, petting her head gently. Unlike two other horses, she wasn't jet black. She had an uneven white strip starting from her forehead and leading down to nostrils when it smoothly changed into a wider snip. That marking made her look extremely cute, especially with that petite body build she had.

,,She's such a sweetie." Mathias smiled.

,,They're only half Ahnabi." came Lukas' answer. ,,Now saddle her so we won't have to wait for you. Same for you, Vlad."

* * *

It took them half an hour to leave the port town and less than hour to lost a sight of the sea at all as the wide path led them deeper into snow covered mountains. Cold blasts of wind were biting their faces but relatively high position of the sun made it give them some warmth. The spring wasn't far away now, even here on North.

With Mathias and Vlad chattering all the way across the mountains, Lukas remained silent, lost somewhere in his mind's unfathomable depths or so it seemed. Each time Mathias tried to talk him down or just smiled at him for no reason, the Northerner just looked at him and it was impossible to tell what thoughts were hidden behind those dark blue eyes.

They took only one short stopover during all day ride and it was only to crush some ice on a river they were crossing to let the horses drink.

,,Don't they need to rest for a while ? We've been riding for hours now." Mathias asked Vlad, as they were mounting back the horses.

,,_Nu_, they aren't any horses. Just look at them. And Ahnabi horses are know for their stamina."

Negma was almost dancing with excitement and held back energy, she looked as if she could take all the distance to the castle with a carefree canter and not even sweat while doing so.

,,You've probably never heard of Raskyggs ?" asked Vladimir and Mathias shaked his head, his eyes sparkling with interest.

,,They are black horses from folklore stories. Raske Skyggers, because they're unbelievably fast and can become one with shadows so no one gets to see them if they want to hide. They live in forests and mountain valleys. They're pretty distrustful about people and surely it's very wise of them, don't you think ?"

,,So you're telling me the horses we're riding right now are in fact some magical creatures ?" asked Mathias with a resigned laughter. Why was he even surprised ?

,,_Da_, but only in half. That's why we can show them to normal people and keep them in stalls. They don't mind since the Ahnabi horses' traits are usually dominant."

,,That's so awesome. I knew she was a special one the second I saw her." Mathias grinned and leaned over to caress Negma's neck. When he looked up, he found Lukas gazing at him over the shoulder. The Northerner was just a few steps ahead of them. And then, all out of sudden, his lips actually curved in rare, sincere _smile_, making Mathias' heart perform a risky stunt, skipping a short sequence of beats.

,So changeable, never fails to take me aback.' thought Mathias, his grin widening in response.

* * *

,,Oi, girl, calm down already, it's just for one night."

Mathias was leaning over the stall's door, chin rested on hands, watching his horse went a little crazy in new place and trying to pull some soothing talking.

By the time they arrived to the castle, it was already dark and late. The stars didn't really give much light to make riding easier but the horses seemed not to bother at all, their hooves always perfectly stable on frozen, rocky path down a narrow valley. Pretty impressive.

The castle itself wasn't anything special however. It was half a size of Mathias' one, had visibly thinner walls and ridiculously big number of towers, mostly slender and high.

As soon as maid showed them to their rooms, Mathias sneaked out and walked in here, to dark, empty stables. He wasn't even sure why he did so. He felt seriously tired after all day riding and yet so restless. He wouldn't fall asleep now anyway so why not take a little stroll and look over Negma instead ?

Said mare quitted running in small circles around the stall and neighed loudly, her eyes sparkling with something like held back irritation and energy she couldn't let go of.

Basically, Negma's behaviour kind of fitted his own mood. Mathias sighed and smacked his tongue to attract her attention. When she turned head toward him, he brightened up in a broad smile.

,,I can always stay here with you." he said cheerfully, actually meaning what he said. It wouldn't be the first time he slept in stables just because he felt like it. He used to do that a lot as a kid and so did Nickavs. For such an adventurous brats as they were it was quite a fun time.

The moment he said that, light footsteps were heard from behind him.

,,Like hell you sleep here." Lukas' voice had an air of derision to it as he approached Mathias and stood beside him, arm in arm. Mathias glanced at him with small laughter.

,,And what are _you_ doing here ?"

Lukas ignored him, caressing Negma's neck as she walked up to him on stiff legs, silky tail held high in the air.

,,Seriously, get back to your chambers, you're only making her more nervous, not helping at all." he said bluntly.

Mathias gasped laughily.

,,As if !"

,,So annoying." sighed Lukas, reaching out swiftly to take a firm grip on his wrist and the next thing Mathias was aware of was being pulled into a quick march out of the stables and across the courtyard to the living part of castle. The Northerener might not look like it but he was fairly strong. Not that Mathias had put up a real fight anyway.

They were halfway to the chambers when Lukas stood up abruptly, Mathias bumping into his back and groaning when the other's cold fingers clenched painfuly around his wrist.

,,Watch it, you half wit." said Lukas, scowling a bit.

,,Me ?! It's you who stops like that out of blue, was I supposed to foresee this happening or what ?"

,,Just shut up already."

,,Why ? What's going on ?"

They were standing in the middle of an empty corridor, no living soul in sight. Though it was too dark for Mathias to see properly so perhaps there was someone, or something. Lukas apperently thought so.

And then, after few silent moments Vlad appeared, strolling blithely from the opposite direction. He was wearing his red coat. When he noticed them standing on his way, almost holding hands, a splendid smile appeared on his face.

,,Did you see them ?" asked Lukas outright and Vladimir nodded.

,,Oh yeah_, __învin__și _thought they were so smart but I spotted them right away as they showed those hidious faces in the valley. They didn't stayed long though, I think they're might be heading back now."

Lukas was looking at him, deep in thoughts.

,,They wouldn't give up so easily." he said. ,,Nevermind, we can't help it anyway."

,,I'll get those bastards once we meet them alone, you'll see !" Vlad's smile grown sort of ruthless, especially with those fangs of his showing. It must have been tough to have him for an enemy, in spite of his usual light-hearted, friendly attitude.

Lukas nodded once and smirked rather ironically.

,,Who are we talking about anyway ?" asked Mathias eagerly.

,,Ah, damn Vemund's scouts. We thought we could fool them, leaving the port town without all the warriors but it didn't work." Vlad shrugged, his eyes dark with uncharacteristic anger.

Well, that was something new.

,,And who's Vemu..." Mathias' question was cut short by Lukas' hand covering his mouth tightly.

,,Enough talking for today." he said, standing in front of Mathias, another hand still holding his wrist. ,,You were doing that all day, continuous blabbering as if you just couldn't shut up, honestly, how come you don't ever get tired of this ?"

Mathias' body was trembling from supressed laughter. He wasn't sure why but he found it amusing to have Lukas act like this, getting irritated over some normal things just because it was Mathias who did them.

,,Ah, right, I was going to take a little walk." said Vlad quickly, smiling as he passed them and vanishing into pitch black darkness of the staircase behind them.

Lukas' gaze followed red-eyed boy, his face truly unreadable, until he took his hand from Mathias' lips and forced the man to walk beside him again.

,,You don't have to pull my hand so hard, you'll tear it from my shoulder." Mathias chuckled though it _did_ hurt to be dragged this way, with Lukas completely unconsiderate of others not being able to see through darkness. Mathias already stumbled several times on those uneven floors and stairs, trying to keep the pace. ,,And why do you even have to walk me to my chambers, I know where they are, don't I ?."

Lukas snorted and Mathias was sure the other one was wearing that scornful smirk again.

,,And why do I even have to be in there ? I didn't hear you scolding Vlad for taking a walk right now, why am I different ?"

An impatient sigh came from Lukas as the response.

,,That's because if I let you wander around for the whole night, tomorrow we'll have to set off in afternoon instead of as planned, at dawn because there will be no force to drag you out of bed."

They stopped at Mathias' chamber's door, the corridor lit up by single torch. Its trembling light gave some strange, unstable expression to Lukas' darkened eyes.

,,Haha, that's quite true." laughed Mathias, reaching out to ruffle the other one's hair. Lukas lost a grip of his wrist and took a step back, glaring at him with contempt. That only increased Mathias' playful mood.

,,You're hands are always cold like this." he said, grabbing Lukas' hand for a moment.

,,So ?"

,,Nothing, it's just weird. Is rest of your skin cold as well ?"

Mathias frowned a bit when sudden realisation came to him. Lukas' lips surely were cool while they were kissing. That was harder to explain than hands, wasn't it ?

,,Don't make that face, I'm just curious." he chuckled. ,,You're just as unhuman as one can be and yet you won't tell me what else you really are, man, of course I'm dying to find out."

Lukas smirked, his eyes now having that pixie twinkle again. But it wasn't _that_ for sure since pixies were just tiny, mischievously gleeful fairies with half-transparent wings, not human-alike at all.

On the other hand, Mathias didn't know Northern folklore that good, his knowledgle of magical creatures was highly limited to what he had read in old books as a child. Maybe the answer was only a step away from him ? A step he didn't even know that should be taken.

,,Why does it bug you so much ?" asked Lukas, watching his face with a deep pensiveness most likely written on it.

Mathias looked up in surprise.

,,Well, that's kind of fascinating and all." he explained with a sheepish smile, raising one hand to run it through his hair. ,,And your making such a great secret of it only makes me want to discover it more, it's reflexive, I guess."

,,I see."

,,Hey there, aren't you enjoying yourself too much with this one ?" Mathias pouted mockingly. ,,Honestly, you could just tell me, what's in it for you that I don't know ?"

Lukas tilted his head slightly and smiled wickedly.

,,Fun."

Well, that was honest. Mathias gasped ostentatiously, a bit dazed by the other one smiling this way and having _that_ look in eyes. It was more than just distracting.

,,That's so twisted." complained Mathias half-seriously.

,,Ahh, poor you, can't take a little teasing ?" Lukas stepped closer to him and raised one hand to pat his cheek in patronizing manner. But what was meant to be insulting, only reminded Mathias of the way those hands had touched him the last time and made him shudder a bit.

,It's not _a little_ teasing anymore when you stand that close and touch me.' he thought, uncertain of how exactly that made him feel. He forced himself to put up a careless smile.

,,So mean." he said, turning away and opening the door. ,,I'm going to bed, otherwise you just won't stop pestering me, will you ?"

,,How nice to see you make a wise choice for a change." came a satisfied reply and Lukas walked away down the corridor, casting him a quizzical glance over the shoulder.

,,It was even wiser than you think." murmured Mathias, knowing perfectly well that if he didn't step back, he'd only end up losing control and shoving Lukas against the wall to kiss him passionately until those cold lips would melt into one with his own.

,,Shit. That's not good." he let out a resigned laughter, running both hands through already messed hair and wondering just how would he go to sleep now with his mind set on such things.

* * *

Eventually they set off a bit later then they had in plans. And it wasn't even because of Mathias' morning laziness.

,,Luke, are we really going outside in that weather ?" Mathias was standing in the stable's doorways, peeking outside with unhappy expression.

Lukas smacked him across the back of head and Mathias groaned.

,,Hey ! What's that for ?"

,,Don't call me that. And stop acting as if it was some leisure trip, we have places we need to be."

,,Ha, so serious in the morning." mumbled Mathias, massaging his head and turning to Vlad, who was sitting on the pile of hay cubes, reading something that looked like a terribly old spellbook from the castle's library. His eyes were filled with entrancement.

,,Vlad, don't you think we should stay one more day ?"

The boy looked up from the book.

,,_Ce_ ? _Ah_, _nu_." he replied. ,,It's even better like this."

Mathias shaked his head in disbelief and sighed loudly.

,,You're both insane."

Regardless of his objections, they left the castle soon after that, right into a rampant blizzard. And nobody but him, not even horses, seemed to mind heavy snow covering everything in few heartbeats and whipping his face so he was forced to cover it with a scarf. Although Vlad did the same thing with his scarf, his crimson eyes were still smiling above its edge.

Lukas however didn't look troubled by weather conditions, not in a slightest. He was riding at the front and Mathias had no idea how he managed to find a path in that confusing plateau wastes of white snow.

During an afternoon stopover in a cave they had encountered on their way, he asked Vlad why were they riding in such a rush. The boy shrugged.

,,It's easier to lost our tail this way."

Those mysterious ,scouts' again. Mathias frowned.

,,So it's like we're running away from someone ? Then why not take a bunch of warriors with us and confront them in battle if that's the problem ?"

,,Nah, it's not that. The thing is they won't fight with us even if we're alone like this, they only have orders to follow us."

,,But why ? Who are they anyway ?"

,,That's rather complicated." Vlad bit his lower lip and turned his sight toward Lukas, who's been watching them in silence from the opposite side of cave where he had sat, leaning against the wall.

,,We lost them for now." he said blankly, standing up. ,,Come on, you two, move. We don't have much time before night falls and it's still far until we find next shelter like this one."

Mathias grinned at him.

,,Then we should just stay here until tomorrow."

Vlad bursted into laughter when a single glove hit Mathias' head with a muffled flop.

,,Oi, Luke, that was harsh !" objected Mathias laughily and had to evade at once when another glove was thrown into his direction.

Later, as they were hacking through the non-lessening blizzard, in spite of being in much higher spirits than before, Mathias couldn't get rid of that sickening sensation in his stomach, something like an unclear premonition. One quick look at Vlad told him that the boy felt the same uneasiness as he did.

He was wondering if that had anything to do with the ,tail' Vladimir had been talking about earlier. They were in the middle of a wide open space now but in that snow it could be hard to notice if someone was approaching them from the distance. And the range of exeptionally high mountains was not so far ahead of them. Reaching them meant finding a shelter to spend a night in but also a limited range of sight and worse conditions to fight if that would be necessary.

,Ahh, why am I getting all worried over things like that, it's not like me. It's probably just the atmosphere of this land, so wild and empty.' he shoved away disturbing thoughts, smiling under the scarf and thinking about getting some sleep already. Another day of riding and small troubles with falling asleep last night got him quite exhausted now.

And who knew how many days were still left to go like this ? Surely not him since a certain person here wasn't kind enough to tell him at least where they were heading to.

Troublesome, yes, but the adventurous nature of his wouldn't let him sulk for so long and miss all the fun included. He really hoped there would be any.

* * *

_ Well, took me long enough to update, huh ? That was because of a little accident I had and few days I had to spend at hospital under observation, such an unfriendly place to write anything with nurses and doctors checking on me every now and then and that weird, talkative lady from the bed next to mine. All the doctors were calling me ,,that horsey girl". It was fun though, I had my laptop with me, Internet and lots of chocolate ^^ The worst part is that I probably won't get to ride a horse like, until March or something, so yeah, that drives me crazy and for now at least I'll put them into that story ;)_

_ Translations:_

_Sigur - of course_

_Frumuseţe - beauty_

_învinși - losers_

_Ingenbølger - it literally means ,,no waves" in norwegian._

_ Raske Skygger - norwegian for ,,quick shadows", man, I wish I had a Raskygg horse..._

_That would be all. Let me know if you like the story :)_


	9. Chapter 9

,,What ?" Mathias moaned, turning to Lukas. ,,Why do I have to be the first to stay on watch ?"

Lukas glanced at him from the other side of a small bonfire. Unstable flames' reflections were dancing in his eyes in somewhat disturbing way.

,,That's the most logical thing to be done. Once you fall asleep we won't be able to wake you up until morning." he replied bluntly.

That was something Mathias couldn't deny so he unwillingly gave up. After all, it was only about three hours of staying awake. Although, with a warmth of fire they had managed to start from that little wood to be found outside the cave and the stodgy roasted lamb meal for a late dinner, he already felt relaxed and rather sleepy.

,,Fine." he said, stretching both hands over his head and standing up. He was halfway to the cave's mouth when Lukas' cold voice stopped him in place.

,,Where do you think you're going ?"

,,Oh, you know, nature calls." Mathias chuckled, sending him a glance over the shoulder. ,,Why ? Am I not allowed to leave that cave too ?" he asked, smiling at the memory of his stay in Lukas' temporary abode under the cliffs. Why did this man always make him end up in places Mathias felt anxious in ? Cramped, closed spaces to be precise. At least this particular cave they were in now wasn't small and he wasn't left here alone.

,,Don't get lost out there, I'm not going outside only to look for you." replied Lukas. Mathias winked at him, grinning.

,,You can always keep me company if you're so worried."

Vlad, who had been sitting beside Lukas, completely caught up in some thin, old book, now covered his mouth with one hand to muffle a small laughter. Lukas rolled his eyes.

,,You both really make quite a perfect match on annoying sense of humour's field, don't you ?" he asked in a snappish tone.

Mathias and Vlad exchanged knowing looks and smiled widely since that statement just couldn't get more accurate.

When Mathias came back, his clothes and hair now topped with numerous melting snowflakes, he found both men already lying by the fire, wrapped tightly in those large, furry animal skins they had taken from the castle.

Mathias, releasing a resigned sigh, walked deeper into the cave, where they had placed all of their equipment and left the horses, using long ropes to tether them to short stalagmites.

Two half-Ahnabi mares were lying on the stone ground, slightly unusual for horses in general but typical for the hybrides they were, only his Negma, overactive as she was, still standing and neighing quietly when she saw him aproaching. She had come to like him almost as much as he adored her. But how could he be blamed for doting on such a sweet and perfect horse ? Her fiery temper and occasional nervousness only made her cuter, more than if she _really _was perfect.

Mathias caressed her shapely head, along the white marking she had and whispered a portion of calming talking. Eventually, it took him a while to get himself to leave her, grab his own animal skin and make it back to the bonfire. He added several larger sticks to it and placed himself next to the cave's wall. He didn't lie down though, knowing how easy it would be to accidentely fall asleep if he did. Instead, he sat straight, his back leaned against the solid stone mass behind.

Lukas, who had been lying in a distance of few small steps from him, with sleeping Vlad right behind, suddenly rolled over so now he was facing Mathias, his dark eyes sharp and not sleepy at all.

,,I'll take the watch after you. Oh, and if you fall asleep, I'll make you stay up all night tomorrow." he announced in lowered but spiteful voice, smirking a little.

What was supposed to come out as a proper threat, managed only to get Mathias to bite his lip, smile quizzically and turn his head away for a moment in attempt to hide his reaction, because of how suggestive it sounded. To be honest, thinking about ways of keeping someone awake and Lukas at the same time could only lead him to one obvious conclusion.

Trying to kick a bunch of detailed pictures out of his head and feeling well-known electrifying shiver run down his spine when he caught back Lukas' stare, Mathias nodded, not exactly willing to trust his words now. Lukas didn't seem to fully believe in his taciturn assurance, nevertheless his eyelids closed as if he went to sleep.

,I can't believe one sentence, not even meant like this, actually got me almost aroused.' he thought in wonderment, running a hand through his hair, still slightly wet from snow that had melted in it. That gesture was a subconscious hint on how helpless he was against feeling this way towards a certain Northerner. In fact he knew it wasn't just about those words. It was just the way he reacted on Lukas, it couldn't be helped no matter how confused and torn it made him feel.

,It better stay only in my head, otherwise I'll be in one serious trouble, that even I can tell.' he reminded himself, thinking about how easy it must have been for someone like Lukas to make people go fully crazy for him. He was just too distant and alluring at the same time, too unearthly to let others stay composed once they had got closer to him.

Yet again his hand wandered to his hair and Mathias let out a silent laughter, shaking his head as if expecting it to help him pull himself together, his eyes being drawn by the sight of Lukas' sleeping face, somewhat stripped of its usual cold blankness. Only one thing he could be sure, his watch will be a pretty interesting one if his mind was going to keep up with this weird mood.

* * *

About three hours later, Mathias was feeling as if he could go to sleep and not wake up for the next two days. Yawning, he got out of a warmth-keeping nest he made himself out of enourmously large, furry on the inside cover. Dragging it with him, he walked up to Lukas and kneeled down, gently shaking the sleeping man's arm.

Lukas woke up immidiately and with no sound made. He just opened his eyes and sat up, stretching gracefully like a cat, his face showing that he found doing that pleasurable.

,For gods' sake...' thought Mathias, holding back from all the things he wanted to do when seeing that. Mostly wondering how would Lukas' face look like if Mathias was to push him back on the ground, tilt his head back, lean down and give this pale, soft-looking skin of his neck a solid portion of kissing, licking, nibbling, biting...until the other one's breath would go uneven and he'd pulled him up for a real, blood-boiling kiss.

He slapped himself mentally, aware of his body waking up the way he really did not need now. And Lukas was watching him, who knows how much could he read from his face and eyes, probably a lot because his eyes turned even darker shade of blue, the tiniest of smiles lifting corners of his lips. He didn't make any move though.

,,Get some sleep, stupid." he whispered finally, no real insult in his voice. He stood up, grabbed his covering and walked up to the same spot where Mathias spent last three hours, sitting comfortably and watching the other one lay his shakedown next to unmoving Vlad. Slight yet wicked smile present on his lips but who knows what caused it ?

* * *

After three days of riding across the snow-covered, oddly silent mountains and spending nights in empty caves, Mathias felt as if they were no longer in the world he knew or like the whole civilisation was gone and the human race had became extinct and they were the only ones left. Well, technically only him since Lukas and Vlad couldn't exactly be called humans.

He wasn't used to places like this, when one could wander around for weeks and not encounter another human being. It was amazing but a little overwhelming too and Mathias was glad to have Vlad around so they could spend all days on talking and laughing together, and generally making this waste land no longer calm nor silent.

Lukas usually ignored them or just looked as if he did, only occasionally scolding them for being too loud and bothersome. Though it wasn't that unusual for him to join their conversation, if it was one of the _normal_ ones, not just exchanging random, weird reflections and laughing at each one of them.

Mathias probably should have want only coming back home but how could he when despite really weird circumstances, travelling like this with those two was so much fun and he found himself right in his place. Wasn't he always into adventures, meeting new people and exploring strange lands ?

But no matter how entertaining that trip was, Mathias had got really excited once he'd heard they were to spend next night, if not two of them, in actual castle.

,,Woah, is it also yours ?" he asked Lukas, making Negma walk a bit faster to catch up to his horse so they would now ride arm in arm on the narrow path across some frozen valley.

Lukas turned to him.

,,No."

,,Yeah, I bet your second castle is on the furthest edges of this land, so far North that the snow never melts out there." Mathias grinned, he could effortlessly imagine Lukas living in a place like this and enjoying every day of everlasting winter and no one's presence except for various folklore creatures, treating him as one of them.

Lukas sneered a little.

,,You almost guessed."

Mathias laughed. He was in particularly high spirits today, the weather was just perfect, bright sun pouring its warmth on them from the clear sky and making all the snow sparkle like pixie dust. This, summed up with a perspective of proper living conditions, was beyond enough to make all three of them contended. Vlad was even riding pretty far ahead of them as if he simply could not wait until they would arrive to said castle.

,,Whose place is it then ?" asked Mathias curiously.

,,An ally of mine." came an answer with slight tone of hesitation. ,,Kind of."

Mathias raised one eyebrow, smiling broadly though those news took him aback. He always considered Lukas to be proud of his independence and solitude here in North. And now the man came up with allies, moreover, allies with whom he was close enough to come round like this, bringing two other people with him.

,,Ah, I didn't know the fearsome and ever lonely lord actually condescends to make alliances." he scoffed with playful smile curving his lips. Lukas' hand surprisingly swiftly launched towards him and smacked his head from behind. Mathias groaned laughily.

,,Ouch, Luke !" he said in protest, preventively leaning away to escape possible next hits but Lukas only glared at him coldly.

,,Stop with that fearsome lord already, you moron." he scolded him. ,,I only do what's necessary to protect my people, lands and my freedom. That's how it works here. Either you rule or you serve and sure, you get to to whatever you feel like but first you have to be strong enough to stop others from interrupting you."

Mathias remained silent for a change, surprised by Lukas' sincere words. Usually it was hard to get anything more than irony, teasing, unclear hints and all the similar from secretive Northerner so that moment of honesty was really something else.

Lukas smirked, watching other's startled face.

,,Sorry for turning your world-view upside down." he jeered at Mathias' reaction.

Mathias snorted with laughter.

,,It's not that." he said, shaking his head. ,,It's just weird to hear you say something more, real in addition, about yourself. You always keep all the appereances up and it's hard to tell what really drives your actions, that's all."

Seeing Lukas' unreadable expression, Mathias grinned at him, oblivious to an exceptional intensity of his gaze, as if the other was trying to see through him. And then Lukas came up with yet another completely unexpected thing.

,,You arent't that easy to read yourself sometimes." he said in serious voice, looking a bit puzzled. Mathias glanced at him in surprise, laughing. He knew he sucked at hiding his emotions even when he actually did try do do so, while most of times he didn't, finding it unnecessary or too bothersome. In fact it wasn't even anything he would have thought about too often, he usually was too distracted by what was happening around him to properly focus on his own reactions. Though dealing with Lukas was slowly teaching him to watch his doings, at least sometimes.

The Northerner let out a short, somewhat derisive laughter.

,,I'm quite sure it's not on puropse though." he said, balancing his previous words with irony. ,,You just show too much of everything and it's all so tangled, no wonder others can't read that mess since you're probably pretty much lost within it yourself."

And that was it. How could Lukas say Mathias was tough to read and then at once see right through him, describing major part of his personality in few words? Incredible.

* * *

In the afternoon they left stark landscape of the mountains behind. There were still rather high hills all around but most of them were covered with trees, making the area look far more inviting than plain rocks. And they even passed two villages, though they took a way around instead of riding through them.

They were now leaving a dense forest; a tremendous, frozen lake right in front of their eyes. On the opposite shore, a dark silhouette of a castle was visible against the sky that setting sun dyed vibrant orange.

Their brave, black meres carried them safely right across the lake, its icy surface hidden under snow but still a bit slippery. Mathias was amazed how Negma kept her balance even though they were trotting pretty fast.

When already inside the castle, the three travellers were standing in the library, Mathias and Vlad right in front of the fireplace, smiling at the feeling of warmth soaking into their bodies. Servants had taken their coats and led them here. The amount of books on the numerous shelves was at least four times bigger than in Lukas' castle and noticing Vlad's expression, Mathias knew that the boy will spend long hours in here, searching for those magic-related books of his.

The door opened and two men stepped inside. They were both blond but apart from that as different as it gets.

,,Lukas !" shouted out the first one, rather short and slender, with a cute face, his big, violet eyes were sparkling with joy from under his bangs, wide, warm smile on his lips. He ran up to Lukas and gave him a spontaneous, quick hug. ,,So good to see you !"

Lukas stood there stiffly, neither returning the hug nor pushing the cheerful blonde away. The other didn't seem to mind though, his eyes now set on Vladimir.

,,_Moi_, Vlad !" he greeted him, throwing his arms around the red-eyed boy. Vlad willingly hugged him back. When they parted, the blonde pouted mockingly. ,,I can't believe you're already taller than me and I'm four years older."

Vlad snorted with laughter and ruffled the other's hair.

,,Everyone's taller than you, midget." he said laughily.

,,So not true ! And don't get so cocky, it's a small difference anyway."

They were talking like old friends, though the man seemed to be of kind who is naturally friendly towards everyone. He turned to Mathias and met his curious glance.

,,And who's your friend ?" he asked, wide-eyed, coming closer to Mathias and reaching his hand to him. ,,_Terve _! I'm Tino Väinämöinen, and you are ?"

Mathias smiled and shaked his hand. Tino was simply adorable, he probably didn't get anything less from people than smiles and gestures of friendship.

,,Mathias Køhler." he introduced himself.

,,_Hauska tutustua_, Mathias !" he shaked his head, correcting himself right away. ,,Nice to meet you, I mean."

Tino's accent and foreign words he used were unfamiliar to Mathias. He couldn't really place it but it didn't sound like one of Southern or Western languages.

,,Yeah, sweet to meet you as well." replied Mathias, grinning at him. When he looked up, the latter man who'd come to the library was glaring at him with almost expressionless face. Could he be Tino's overprotective brother ? But they didn't look alike at all.

He was very tall, probably of the same height as Mathias himself. His hair was short and face handsome yet too serious, unsmiling. Also his greenish-blue eyes were stern and somewhat intimidating.

Mathias thought the man looked like someone who simply had a problem with expressing himself.

He and Lukas shaked each other's hands wordlessly, only nodding with something that must have been their own way of showing mutual respect. Then it was Vlad's turn and the boy shaked his hand enthusiastically, not minding other one's lack of smile.

,,Berwald Oxenstierna." said the tall man, offering his hand to Mathias with wary reserve. When Mathias shaked it, his grasp turned out to be firm and strong. Somehow it left an impression of being some kind of warning, as if he wanted to tell ,stay away from Tino', especially when right after that he stood after said man, looking quite protective. Tino glanced at him a little nervously but also with obvious affection.

,Don't worry, I won't touch him.' thought Mathias, smirking slightly and turning away. No matter how lovable Tino might be, he wasn't the one Mathias was interested in.

* * *

Late supper the five of them had in cozy dining room was pretty much Mathias, Vlad and Tino talking non-stop and getting more friendly, although Tino wasn't that much of a perfect match for them as Mathias and Vlad were for each other. Still, they surely had a properly entertaining time with him.

And then there were Lukas and Berwald, sitting at the table's end in silence, exchanging meaningful glances and sighing every now and then.

Even though that much had happened today, Mathias still had to admit that the best thing of them all was a hot bath he got to take before going to bed. It was sheer delight, especially for his muscles, a bit stiff after that many days of riding and sleeping on caves' hard ground.

Or maybe it was even better to lie down in the actual bed with soft mattress, pillows and all. This, and knowing that he wouldn't have to wake up early.

Mathias tossed himself on said bed and all it took for him to fall asleep was laying his head on the pillow.

* * *

,,Come on ! Let's go to sauna, it's so amazing." Vlad was smiling cheerfully.

,,To what ?" Mathias was confused.

,,Sauna, it's a small cabin where's really hot and steamy and you sit there until you're all sweaty and can't take the heat anymore." came an excited reply. It surely sounded nonsensical enough to make Mathias curious.

,,But...why..."

Vlad laughed light-heartedly and reached out to grab his hand, interrupting his question. He led him along the castle's corridors.

,,_Haide ! _You'll love it. It makes you really clean and it's healthy. Tino got Berwald to build this sauna once he moved here from his own coutry. It's pretty common thing out there." explained Vlad as they left the castle. They didn't have coats and the frost was quite biting this morning but they only walked up to the lake which was right outside. And indeed, there was a little wooden cabin standing between two high birches.

Vlad released his hand to open the door and practically pushed him inside.

,,Tino and Berwald used it before so it's already hot and we don't have to wait." he said. They were now standing in a cramped room, empty but for a small bench. There was a large torch stuck in a holder next to another closed door.

,,Are we going in there ?" asked Mathias, hoping for that other room to be bigger than this one, he already felt a bit uptight.

,,_Da_. But first things first, so take your clothes off." he said, grinning and passing him white cloth Mathias recognised as a towel. ,,You can wrap this around your hips."

Since Mathias only stared at him in slight bewilderment, Vlad burst out laughing and pushed his chest playfully with one hand, his eyes gleaming in torch's light.

,,It's fun." he assured, showing both fangs in charming smile.

Mathias smiled back, giving up on any further doubts. If Vlad was so enthusiastic about that sauna thing, he'd most likely enjoy it as well. And even if not, it still was an interesting experience.

,,And it's my birthday so I don't really feel like celebrating it alone."

Vlad's voice sounded careless but his eyes showed mixed emotions with uneasiness topping them. He also looked as if he really hoped for Mathias to keep him company.

Mathias grinned and pulled him close into a friendly hug, ruffling those sleek hair of his with one hand.

,,You should've told me earlier !" he said with half-serious rebuke. ,,Happy birthday anyway, it's seventeen now, isn't it ?"

Vlad nodded, moving back, his eyes now filled with joy.

,,Yeah, I'm starting to get old, soon I'll turn into an old man like you." he sneered to cover his former uncertainty.

Mathias snorted.

,,Whoa, I'm only three years older than you are." he laughed. ,,But still, show some respect, you brat, won't you ?"

,,No way !" Vlad sticked his tongue out with flippancy and turned his back on Mathias, unbuttoning his shirt. Mathias smiled and did the same.

Once both of them were naked but for the towels, Vlad opened the second door and a massive wave of heat flooded them.

This room was hardly bigger than the first one, there was a wide, two-leveled bench and what looked like a large heater, filled with glowing carbon. But the most entrancing thing was that the major part of the wall from lake's side was replaced by glass, making it a really big window with most fabulous of views. Basically, while sitting comfortably on the bench it was possible to watch a sun rising over the lake. Well, theoretically, since the glass was thick, slightly uneven and steam had already made it vapoury. But still something was visible and the room was full of morning light.

Vlad looked at him.

,,I knew you'd like the window most."

Mathias chuckled.

,,Yeah, you saw right through me."

After Vladimir poured some water on carbon, thick steam sourrounded them closely and they sat on lower part of the bench, chattering and relaxing.

* * *

,,I feel so dizzy now." Mathias finished toweling down as well as putting back on his clothes. He shaked his head to get rid of weakening feeling inside it.

,,Yeah, me too. But it will pass as soon as we breathe in some fresh air." Vlad seemed equally dazed as Mathias felt and they both giggled sheepishly.

,,You were right, sauna is awesome."

,,_Sigur_." Vlad smiled broadly. ,,Though we probably overdosed it a bit, I don't know how I'll make it back to my chamber, honestly."

,,Here, lean on me, this way we'll help each other." said Mathias, opening the door as Vlad did what he was told. They both then stepped out into cold air, their steps slightly wobbly but smiles persisting on their faces.

,,You're enjoying yourselves, I see." someone's cool voice drawn their attention back to reality. They looked up to see Lukas, his expression inscrutable with one eyebrow raised. White towel flipped casually over his shoulder.

Mathias bit his lower lip and then grinned at Lukas who just stared at him blankly.

,,Luk, you should've come with us." said Vlad, still leaning on Mathias.

,,And listen to all that noise you two make together, right." Lukas smirked. ,,I prefer it alone. By the way, happy birthday."

Vlad brightened up in a smile and moved away from Mathias to hug the Northerner quickly.

,,You remembered." he said cheerfully.

Lukas smiled at him slightly, something warm filling his eyes momentarily.

,,Of course I did. I even have a present for you, back in the castle."

,,Luk, that's just..."

,,Yeah." Lukas seemed a bit overwhelmed by Vlad's affectionate way of showing his joy. ,,Now go back to the castle, you two. I'm not staying here longer if you get ill."

Vlad nodded quickly, still smiling. He grabbed Mathias' hand and pulled him after. Mathias only had time to look back at Lukas, smile at him and see somewhat unusual puzzlement in those dark blue eyes. Then Vlad pulled his hand.

,,Come, Mathias, I feel like running !" the boy shouted and Mathias had no other choice but to follow him up the little hill the castle was placed on.

When they reached its gates and stood there for a moment to look down at the stunning scenery of snow-covered forests, lake and shades of mountains in the background, they saw something different as well.

On the distant opposite side of the lake, two silhouettes of riders were heading back to the woods. Vlad seemed to know exactly who they were and even Mathias was almost sure though he had never seen them before and from that distance it was impossible to really recognize anyone.

,,_Futu-i!_ They found us that quickly."

Mathias' conjectures confirmed, he looked at Vlad.

,,What do we do now ?" he asked and red-eyed boy regarded him with another sudden change of mood.

,,Same old thing. Nothing." he replied jauntily, clenching his fingers around Mathias' ones and dragging him across a small courtyard. ,,Unless Luk decides otherwise."

Mathias just had to smile but somewhere down in his stomach, some restlessness was still remaining and coming to life each time he thought about their mysterious followers. Could they just not do anything ? It would be much easier for him to judge the situation properly if he actually knew _what_ and _why_ was going on.

He decided he'd have Lukas tell him more but for now he was just going to enjoy this place and Vlad's company. Now, what would be a more propriate way to celebrate someone's birthday than a fancy dinner ?

* * *

_Translations:_

_Moi - hi _

_Terve - hello _

_Hauska tutustua - nice to meet you_

_ (those were in finnish)_

_Haide - come on_

_Futu-i - fuck_

_(romanian)_

_ Oh my, being a Hatalian during Olympic games is just so much fun, isn't it ? I was watching the opening ceremony and instead of real people carrying each county's flags I literally saw the nations from Hetalia, cheering for their athletes and being all proud and supportive, that was so cool and then Germans' outfits, I could only imagine Ludwig walking there stone-faced and Gilbert waving a flag and bragging about how awesome his team is xD _


	10. Chapter 10

Berwald and Tino were in Berwald's office, the taller man sitting at the massive desk, busy with writing a letter, probably with another list of things to take care of for the castle's steward. His serious face showed deep concentration.

Tino, who was sitting casually on the wide windowsill, had to smile, watching the other. Berwald always had to have things like this done the official way, most preferably having them on paper. So instead of just telling their steward what tasks were planned for this week, he was writing a letter.

Caught up in his work, Berwald couldn't see his beloved man staring at him with undeniable tenderness but if he could, he would be delighted. He truly appreciated each sing of affection he could get from Tino, ever since the very first day they had met, even though usually he might encounter some difficulties with expressing it. But then again, Tino knew him long enough to read feelings and intentions hidden behind the rough surface.

It had took Berwald long enough to only reassure Tino that he was no danger to him, not to mention revealing his growing attachment to the cute man and not scaring him to death while doing so. And then they'd had to face all the external troubles. No, it hadn't been easy but greatest things in life don't come without any fight and what they had now was fully worth enduring all the pain in past.

,,Ber, do you think Lukas can do this ?" asked Tino suddenly, a dash of worry in his usually cheerful voice.

Berwald looked up, putting down a quill and not hurrying with a reply.

,,He has the stone and being who he is, the chances are significant."

Tino nodded, not looking fully convinced at all. He looked out the window where another beautiful winter day could be seen.

,,It's pretty far from there yet, and you know the further North the stranger it gets. I also talked with Lukas today. Did you know that Vemund's spies follow them from the coast and won't lose the track of them no matter what ?"

,,I didn't know."

,,Usually I wouldn't give that sly _roisto_ a single chance to beat Lukas but something's different now."

,,Is that so ?"

,,Yeah, you see, Lukas has been waiting for this time for so long, he may not show that but the closer he gets the more impatient he becomes. And you know impatience makes people careless. Then he doesn't have a single warrior with him. I know that's for travelling quicker and being less noticeable but it's also really risky. Vlad might be just as special as Lukas but that won't help them much if they get into real troubles."

Berwald nodded once. He thought just the same but if Tino needed to say that aloud to sort out his own thoughts then Berwald didn't mind listening carefully.

,,I don't know too much about Mathias though. Lukas said he's a skilled fighter, you know, he fought against him in some little battle when they first met. But still, Lukas kind of forced on him this whole trip so I don't really know how would things end up if he was to fight alongside them. And his personality seems quite similar to the one of Vlad, _miten luulet? _But they also seem to be such perfectly matched friends, he and Vlad."

,,You're right." came Barwald's reply as the man stood up and walked up to the other, standing in front of him. Tino looked up.

,,I hope they'll be all right, do you think they will ? I really wish them best." he said, looking as if he was seeking a confirmation in Berwald's deep eyes, the coulour of which resembled lakes' water in the summer when it changed fluently from blue to green and back.

Berwald wanted to tell him just how wonderful, considerate person Tino was and how it made him love him even more each time something like this happened. But unfortunately words rarely were in his favour.

He reached out and cupped the other's cheek with one hand. Tino's eyes widened at once, a shade of an old-forgotten anxiety still remaing somewhere deep inside him but then it was gone and the blonde tilted his head to the side so it leaned on Berwald's palm. He sent him a sweet, grateful smile, understanding exactly what hadn't been said.

Seeing that, Berwald managed to create a small smile of his own and put in on his lips. Then he leaned forward, pulled Tino on the very edge of the windsill and pressed their lips together.

Tino willingly wrapped his arms around the other's neck and kissed him back, deeper and with feelings overfilling him to the point where he had to get closest possibly to Berwald, feel him physically and make sure he was really there.

Tight grip of Berwald's arms, strong enough to give safety but careful not to hurt him, told him that the taller man felt just the same way.

And then the door abruptly swang open, Mathias coming to a halt and staring at them, his mouth opened before he pulled himself together, shaked his head and looked away, giving them time to take more decent poses.

,,What is it ?" asked Berwald curtly, glaring at him as if he wanted to scold him for not knocking at the door before coming in.

Mathias casted a glance at Tino, who smiled at him friendly. That apparently got Mathias back on his usual tracks because now he was grinning and looking oddly excited.

,,I want to set up a birthday dinner." he announced and looked at them, awaiting their reaction.

,,Whose birthday, yours ?" Berwald's unsmiling face and skeptical look in his eyes made Mathias chuckle.

,,No, today's Vlad's birthday."

Tino jumped off the windsill, his face astonished, eyes wide open.

,,How did I not know that ?" he asked. ,,Ber, we need to tell the cook to prepare something special, and then we have to make it a surprise !"

Berwald sighed but said nothing. He was thinking of a loud mess he would get instead of a calm dinner. But as long as it would make Tino happy...

* * *

Large dining room was cozily lit up only with fireplace's light and numerous candles on the long table. Vlad's crimson eyes were gleaming and generally looking like fresh, liquid blood but his broad, splendid smile wouldn't allow anyone fear him at that very moment.

,,I can't thank you enough, all of you." he announced and everone's gazes focused on him, Mathias and Tino also smiled in response. It was already long after the birthday dinner but they didn't move from the table, drinking beer and getting caught up in more or less casual conversations. Even Lukas and Berwald looked as if they came to enjoy themselves, a little.

,,You're totally worth making some fuss around your birthday." Mathias grinned at him and winked playfully. Vlad chuckled.

,,Stop it, you're making me blush." he replied though his cheeks remained as pale as always, no sign of embarrassment in happiness-filled eyes.

From where he was seating, Vlad could see Berwald's occasional glares sent in Mathias' direction, followed by the other's half-suppressed sheepish smile and he couldn't help wondering if anything interesting had happened before between those two.

He didn't have to wait long for his answer. He was sitting in the library, curled up in one of those comfortable armchairs, his attention fully captured by a book he had got from Lukas as a birthday gift. It was a truly unique gift indeed since magical knowledge contained in it was considered long forgotten.

He looked up when the door opened and Mathias stepped in, walking up to him. Vlad closed the book, knowing that Mathias must have come here to talk about something and he was right.

Mathias, instead of sitting in one of rather distant armchairs, chose to sit heavily on the thick carpet, right in front of where Vlad was. This, and the look of pensiveness in his eyes woke up Vladimir's curiosity. He leaned forward, looking down at the visibly troubled man.

,,Oi, what is it ?" he asked.

Mathias hesitated.

,,Do you...know Tino and Berwald well ?"

,,_Da_, pretty well, I think. I spent whole summer in here once when Lukas had to take care of something by himself."

That seemed to put Mathias in ease, at least a bit.

,,So you know about...them." he risked a guess.

,,About..." Vlad frowned, trying to get on the track Mathias' mind followed. It was unusual for him to play it so indirectly. And that expression of his now, what was it all about ?

,,Oh !" he finally caught it. ,,You mean them as a couple, don't you ?"

Mathias looked up.

,,Yeah ! So it's official ?"

,,Sure. They've been like this for years, well, since Berwald went East and met Tino in his country. I don't really know that many details but it was pretty tough for them to get together and the whole story is rather dramatic but it must be the most amazing romance I've ever heard of too."

Mathias smiled, his uncertainty gone.

,,They seem terribly mismatched at the first sight but the longer I watch them, the more I see how wrong that first impression is." he said.

,,Exactly." Vlad nodded. ,,But how did you find out ?"

,,I...sort of burst into the room when they kissed." admitted Mathias, smirking with a dash of guilt.

Vlad snorted with laughter.

,,So that's why Berwald looks at you like this."

,,That's right." Mathias bent to the side, leaning half on the armchair and half on Vlad's folded legs, his head placed freely on them. He seemed quite relaxed, looking up and grinning at the friend.

,,How's that they can just make a couple and build a normal life together without others butting in and, well, you know how it usually looks like when two men decide to be together, especially when they belong to social elites and all." he asked after a long moment of silence.

Vlad smirked, as much of a good observer as he was, he knew exactly why that subject intrigued Mathias that much.

,,Hey, it's North, remember ? Everything's allowed."

Mathias grinned and added ,,If you're strong enough to claim it as yours."

They both laughed.

,,That's quite right. And also these lands aren't exactly known for people's high morality level. Honestly, all kind of things take place in here."

,,Sounds interesting." Mathias suddenly noticed the closed book on the boy's lap. ,,Talking of which, I interruped you, didn't I ? I'll go now."

,,No, you can stay, I like it more with you here. Just be quiet."

Mathias nodded and soon the only sounds filling the air were a soothing crackling of fire and persistent wind howling and blowing against the windows. Mathias felt himself drifting away as he leaned on Vlad's legs completely and closed his eyes. It didn't take long untill he fell asleep.

More surprising was that Vlad, instead of getting back to reading, just sat unmovingly, staring into the darkness outside and letting his thoughts wander purposelessly. Something darker and a bit pained showed up in his eyes but at the same time a little, awaiting smile curved his lips and he bent over to place his head on the armhold, curled in the armchair in very catlike way.

* * *

Lukas, feeling somewhat restless, took a long walk alongside the lake's shore, at least a part of it. When he came back, he paid a short visit to the horses. All of them were rather calm, apart from Negma.

,She and Mathias are kind of alike.' he thought, watching the shiny black mere buck in her stall, throwing back legs high up in the air. She cooled down as he called her name and caressed her head. Mathias had once noticed how ,,caressable" was that long, white marking of hers and he was right though Lukas was sure the word he used didn't even exist.

It was getting late and he assumed both his troublesome companions were already in beds, at least he hoped it was true in Mathias' case. He headed to the library then, wanting to read something inspiring before sleep.

How big was his surprise when after entering said room, very first thing he noticed was a couple of friends, soundly asleep in most astonishing positions. They reminded him of a kitty curled up in an armchair and a puppy falling asleep while still sitting only to keep touching the kitty.

,How sweet.' he thought sarcastically, little smirk on his lips as he approached them with no sound made. He obviously couldn't let them stay like this, most likely one of them would catch a cold and they'd have to postpone setting off.

He tilted his head to the side and watched them for a long moment, judging the situation. With his heritage he should be better at reading people's emotions and sensing them but for some reason he wasn't. Maybe because for most time he didn't pay attention to them or just never really tried to develop that ability.

But now he pushed his own thoughts out of mind and focused on two sleeping cuties. He didn't receive much. Mathias' emotions were for a change calm and quiet, at least he was like this when asleep. But Vlad was kind of an emotional mess. Usually he was a tough one to read his but not in his sleep and not when apparently something got him negatively distracted.

All Lukas could say was that it was somehow linked to Vlad's past and that alone was enough for him to make a final decision.

He bent down, swiftly covered Mathias' mouth with one hand and then smacked the back of his head with another one. Harsh indeed, but efficient and quick.

Mathias woke up at once, his gasp inaudible due to the mouth covered completely. For a moment his eyes were slightly panicked, at least until he saw who woke him up. Then they went narrowed in a smile.

Lukas put one finger on his own lips, giving him a sign to stay quiet, before he let go off him. Mathias straightened up and stretched his hands over head, still sitting on the floor. He casted a glance at soundly sleeping Vlad and smiled as if he saw something utterly cute.

Truth to be told, sleeping Vlad _was_ cute. With no red eyes nor fangs visible, his unearthly good looks were stripped off their ferocity and dash of danger, leaving his face innocent but still captivating.

Suddenly Mathias turned to Lukas.

,,Why did you wake me up like this ?" he asked in whisper with a hint of indignation. Lukas only looked at him.

,,I hate you sometimes." Mathias whispered, holding back a giggle or something equally ridiculous in situation when he should fight back or at least show some real anger, according to Lukas' loose reflections.

,,You need to carry him upstairs." he said in voice so lowered it was barely heard. ,,But don't wake him up."

Mathias stood up and looking down at Lukas, he smiled oddly.

,,And that's why you hit me, right ? Luke, I don't get you."

,,Want to earn another hit ?" Lukas voice was cold but did nothing more than making Mathias grin. Seriously, what was wrong with this man ? wondered Lukas, frowning slightly.

,,If you hit me, I'll probably scream or something and Vlad will wake up."

,,You think I care this much whether he does or not ?"

Mathias smirked in response. ,,I think you do."

Before Lukas could say or do anything, Mathias leaned down and gave him a peck right on the lips, pulling back before he could really got hit for that. He was grinning and looking all proud of himself though.

Lukas rolled his eyes and bit his lower lip to stop it from shaping into a small smile. Was he already catching Mathias' stupidity or what ?

,,Get him, now." he hissed, pointing a finger at the sleeping boy and turned around to walk out of the library. Mathias soon joined him, Vlad half awoken in his arms, head on his shoulder.

With no real effort, Mathias carried him to the chamber and laid on the bed, wrapping the quilt around him. Vlad moved, rolling over to lay on his other side and fell back asleep right away.

When already outside, on a torch lit corridor, Mathias glanced sideways at Lukas as they were walking in a rather contemplative silence, arm in arm.

,,Oi, Luke." he started, purposely ignoring the other's glare. ,,How much longer ?"

,,What are you talking about ?" Lukas frowned slightly.

,,This...thing, the trip, I'm not even sure how am I supposed to call it since I don't know it's nature. How much longer will it take ?"

His voice was serious and he really wanted a proper answer but hearing Lukas sigh in annoyance and seeing him roll his eyes as well, Mathias apparently couldn't help doing what he did.

,,What now ?" Lukas asked in cold, emotionless voice, managing to stay unaffected by being suddenly grasped by shoulders and pushed against the wall with Mathias looking down at him and smiling with...was it only obstinacy ? Great, that was exactly what he needed now. Lukas let out another quiet sigh. He was too tired for that.

,,Tell me just this one thing, otherwise I won't let you go." Mathias smile widened but judging by the way his fingers clenched tighter, Lukas could tell the other one really meant that. So troublesome. As if he couldn't easily break free at any moment.

,,That one thing even I don't know so you kind of messed up this ,one question' action." he replied blankly.

Mathias stared at him, his smile faded a bit.

,,For once you could just give me a simple, honest answer." he bit his lower lip, his eyes full of mixed emotions. Had Lukas been in less worn out condition, he would focus enough to read at least their general direction for he honestly could't tell anything just by looking at Mathias' face now.

,,That _was_ honest." he said calmly. ,,It may be weeks, depends on circumstances."

Mathias didn't look convinced. As soon as he opened his mouth to ask another arduous question, Lukas shook off his hands, moved closer and covered Mathias' lips with his own. As far, it was the most perfect method to both make him shut up and distract him enough to drop whatever he had been up to.

It worked even better than he had expected and soon enough Lukas found himself no longer in control over the kiss, his back once again pressed against the wall, Mathias hands not touching him directly but leaned on the cold, stone surface. Was it to trap him in between or just to keep Mathias from touching him for some reason ? He had it hard to collect his thoughts, being kissed like this, his fingers tangled in those ridiculously messy hair of the other man. It took him noticeably long to be capable of shoving Mathias away.

,,Enough already." he decided cooly, gathering his composure quickly so his face would remain indifferent. He smirked slightly as he saw a broad, goofy grin that had spreaded across Mathias' face, even though his sky blue eyes were still darkened from need. His reactions were always somehow entertaining, one could never be bored around him.

,,You're insane, you know ?" Mathias reached up and lightly pressed one finger to the tip of Lukas' nose, playfully and most likely to get on his nerves. ,,But since you're so cute, I'll let you have it your way, for now."

Lukas smacked off his hand, not showing any other sign of irritation. Oblivious to Mathias' chukle as well, he slipped out from between him an the wall and continued to walk down the corridor as if nothing had happened.

,,I'll get it out of you, everything I need to know !" he heard Mathias' loud declaration but didn't bother to stop or look back.

,,Whatever." he responded indifferently with a dash of sarcasm. ,,Now make sure you won't be a burden in the morning and go to sleep already."

All he got in return was a half-laughing snort but his mind was already set on different matters, such as plans for making it relatively safe to their destination what might have sounded easy but in fact was quite a challenge, especially now when they were about to enter the real, wild North, the one that had a slightly nightmarish air to it. The one Lukas had always called home.

* * *

_Translations:_

_roisto - scoundrel_

_miten luulet? - how do you think ?_

_I've started working on a accompanying story, sort of. The chapters are much shorter though. It tells about Vlad's past and all and I really felt like writing it because ever since I thought about this character I already had his own story in my mind. I just don't know if I should put it in here as a separate story and if anyone would like to read it. _

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)_


	11. Chapter 11

It was snowing. Again. Numerous snowflakes formed heavy layers of whiteness on everything and everyone in alarmingly quick pace. Beautiful as it was, it was also starting to finally get on everyone's nerves. Even Lukas seemed not very contented with that kind of weather but perhaps it was just Mathias' interpretation of his blank face and unfriendly glances thrown in each direction every now and then.

Three days already passed since they had left Berwald and Tino's castle. Two days of riding in the snow; at first through dense, sleeping forests, then across plain wastes, crossed only by deep frozen rivers hidden under the snow, and after that - forests yet again.

They'd ride a whole day with one or two stopovers, then find a possibly most protected from the snow area and put up their small but still quite comfortable tent. It was made of some kind of thick, dark brown leather that managed to keep the inside relatively warm and entirely dry, regardless of snow, melting all over it. That useful thing was what they had been given when seting off from Lukas' allies' castle. It was ten times better than having to look for a convenient cave each night, not mention there was a very slight possibility of finding one in here anyway.

Moreover, for Mathias - who was usually sleeping in the middle - it was just another advantage, quite an amusing one. Not that he got to even touch Lukas with one finger but still, only lying beside him was kind of...Mathias couldn't really describe how exactly it made him feel but it surely was a good feeling.

They were currently riding along snow-covered forest path, their horses rising legs higher than usually to make it easier, when Mathias felt they were being watched. A small shiver ran down his back and he turned back but saw nothing suspicious. He frowned, not being familiar with such sensations. Maybe constant hanging around two who-knows-how-magical men made also him more wary of unnatural stuff like inexplicable hunches and so on.

He now realised he was in quite a distance from his companions, Negma had been fooling around in snow before, making them stay behind. And if something really was wrong, Lukas and Vlad were sure to feel it much more intensely than he did.

As if to confirm his theory, Lukas stopped his horse all out of the blue. He looked back at Mathias, his expression slightly annoyed.

,,Having troubles with keeping up already ?" he shouted, his cold voice echoing a bit in the eerie silence around them.

,,Not really." Mathias shouted back, smiling.

,,Then wouldn't you mind not staying behind ?" Lukas' eyes narrowed warningly.

,,Why ?" Mathias lined up with him, his smile growing wider, playful.

,,Don't ask idiotic questions." replied Lukas cooly and Mathias couldn't hold back a laughter.

,,Aww, Luke, you're worried about my safety, aren't you ?" he asked in a sweet, provocative tone.

Considering how close to each other they were riding now, he could have seen this coming but he groaned loudly anyway as Lukas' hand gave him a bash on the head from behind.

Vlad, who was riding first, a little ahead of them, turned around to look at them with an interest.

,,Are you two fighting again ?" he asked, smirking a bit.

,,No way, who fights ?" Mathias grinned, glancing sideways at Lukas. ,,I'm the one being harassed here."

,,Yeah." Vlad chuckled, shaking his head, a cunning glint in his crimson eyes.

It was like this until the early afternoon when they decided to take a short break from riding and have some decent dinner. No one would tell Mathias what was wrong but Lukas just kept on watching his every step since the morning, making him feel as if he was being treated as some muddle-headed child with no self-preservation instinct. In revange, Mathias purposely teased and annoyed him all this time, knowing he'd probably regret it later.

,,We're running out of food, and we only have one more bag of oat for horses." Vlad noticed as they were sitting by a small fire and waiting for their meal to get roasted.

Lukas looked up and nodded. Vlad seemed satisfied with this but Mathias frowned.

,,Aren't we now like in the middle of nowhere ? It won't be any better with no food at all." he said.

,,Well, it's not that far from the nearest town, two more days of riding, I think." Vlad reassured him with a smile. ,,And we can always go hunting so we're not going to starve anyway. I'm only worried about the horses."

,,We won't hunt in here." Lukas said in quiet but firm voice. Vlad just sighed in reluctant acceptance but Mathias couldn't let it pass, he was already bored with keeping him in ignorance of what was going on.

,,Okay, now you tell me what exactly is wrong with that spooky forest, it's not like I'll freak out and run away screaming, no matter what is it."

Vlad turned to him and for a moment he looked as if he was about to start talking but Lukas' warning glance stopped him.

,,Come on, Luk. We can tell him at least that, can't we ?" he asked instead, uncharacteristically serious.

,,Yeah. You don't have to make _everything _a secret, do you ?" added Mathias, catching Lukas' gaze and keeping it for long enough to make the other one's eyes go darker and cause one corner of his lips to raise in a bittersweet, ironical smile. Mathias did not turn away, though his heartbeat increased it's pace and for a moment he forgot about his own question and even about Vlad, sitting there and watching them with an obvious smirk. He was just captivated by those dark blue, cold and yet oddly alluring eyes, feeling like he was only drowning deeper and deeper in the mystery they were.

,,Fine. Tell him." said Lukas, turning away and tearing him out of the...what exactly was this thing ? It kind of felt like being under some spell. And as if Lukas could see right through him, howsoever creepy that might seem.

,,So, basically, that forest is full of huldras." Vlad grinned, catching his attention. His red eyes were set on him, apparently awaiting his reaction. But Mathias only bit his lower lip, smiling sheepishly.

,,It's not like it tells me something, you know ?" he said and heard Lukas snorting quietly but ignored it. What he said wasn't entirely true anyway. He had read about those huldras many years ago, he just couldn't remember what exactly they were. Some kind of woods goddesses ? No, it was something else, equally gruesome as the rest of the Northern folklore.

,,Well, let's say that if you happen to encounter the most stunning, beautiful girl you've ever seen in your entire life...don't follow her, no matter what." Vlad's smile had something wicked to it.

,,Okay, if I meet one, I won't." Mathias agreed, smiling. ,,But why ? What would they do to me ?"

Before Vlad managed to say anything, Lukas spoke in calm, emotionless voice but with a slightly frolicsome glance at Mathias as well.

,,They often attract men only to kill them right away but with your looks, I'm sure they'd just fuck you to death."

Mathias almost choked on his food, laughter boiling over him. He swallowed hard and then grinned at Lukas.

,,Right...well, that's one fine way to die, isn't it ?" he joked, provoking Vlad to laugh and Lukas to roll his eyes and show him that unwilling smile of his, which Mathias could not help but take as a small victory on his way to get Lukas to reveal more of his emotions. If he had them, that was.

Mathias got back to eating, unable to hide a smug smile, curling his lips. At least now he had it confirmed that Lukas at least found his appearance attractive. That was something, wasn't it ?

* * *

,,Oh, damn, sorry !" Mathias quickly stepped back as the tent fell to his feet and laid flat as if he and Vlad hadn't spent this long to put it up properly. Well, it stood...until Mathias made one false move. But how was he to be blamed for this, that little thing was just sneaky.

,,Oh, gods..." Vlad covered his mouth with one hand to stifle a laughter and turned away quickly, as Lukas looked up from where he was tying the horses loosely to the tree. That look in his eyes now, a mixture of annoyance and a threat...Mathias bit his lower lip, watching the Northerner approach him.

,,Completely useless." he made a biting comment and Mathias shrugged.

,,It just slipped from my hands, for real..." he was cut off by Lukas, whose hand landed over his mouth.

,,Feed the horses if you're not capable of doing more complicated things."

Mathias grasped his wrist and pulled his hand away from his mouth.

,,Yeah, I'll leave that exceptionally difficult and demanding task to you." he replied cheerfully, watching Lukas' face from close enough to feel a tingling need to lean forward and plant a quick kiss on those unsmiling lips. He'd have totally do that, if Vlad hadn't stood few steps away, patiently waiting for them to cut the mutual teasing already and start actually doing something useful.

Mathias raised one hand quickly and playfully ruffled Lukas' hair, knowing perfectly well the other one hated it. And as expected, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

,,Cute." Mathias said, smirking and keeping his voice quiet so only Lukas would hear it. Though apparently not quiet enough.

,,Oh gods, just a little more of that chemistry between you two and you'd make all the Southern alchemists go crazy...but now stop it already, it's getting dark and we haven't set a fire nor even collected the wood for it yet." Vlad interrupted them loudly and grinned as both their heads turned to him, Mathias still holding Lukas' wrist.

Mathias chuckled but, to his surprise, Lukas turned back to him, stood on his toes so he could reach and kissed his cheek gently. His lips were as cold as always but at the same time they made him feel a nice warmth inside. Even though Lukas' eyes were now full of gleeful pixiness and he most likely only toyed with Mathias since the whole thing was just so not like him.

,,Vlad's right. Not the right time." he said softly, though his eyes denied an unspoken promise hidden behind those words and the kiss.

Mathias smiled anyway, letting go of Lukas' hand and taking a step backwards.

,,Yeah, I get it." he noticed Vlad, pretending not to listen and analyse their every word and just had to smile wider as was walking over to the horses and giving them their portions of oat. When he was done with that, he started watching Lukas and Vlad strugling with the tent. Damn thing just wouldn't stand up normally.

,,I'll go get some wood." he announced. Both men turned to him and gave him that weird look he had used to get as a troublesome kid with a bunch of most insane and risky ideas.

,,What ? I know, huldras and all, it's not like I'm going to follow anyone here now that I know who they are. And I won't get far, just around that clearing." he explained, waving them off with a grin.

,,Mathias, are you sure about that ? I can get the wood later. And it's almost night." Vlad seemed worried while Lukas' face showed nothing but an unhealthy curiosity as if he was wondering in what kind of troubles Mathias would get this time.

,,I'm not afraid of darkness or anything." Mathias laughed, passing his companions by and walking into the woods, surrounding the small glade the decided to camp on.

,,Yeah, but if you get lost, you won't be able to see anything." said Vlad, but Mathias was already on his way. As he was walking away deeper into the woods, he could hear something that motivated him to do that even more.

,,Luk, you just let him go in there ? After a whole day of looking after him ?"

,,Yeah, that's interesting." replied Lukas and factically, there was nothing more to his voice than this cool curiosity. He was clearly expecting something unfortunate to happen and that sounded enough like a challenge to make Mathias join that little game.

It was getting dark rather slowly, even under the treetops, so Mathias quickly collected a decent amount of dry sticks, holding them under one arm. To be honest, he expected finding them in snow-covered, frozen forest harder but here they were, just lying on the ground. It almost looked as if they were placed alongside some straight, non-existing path. Which Mathias unconsciously followed.

Before he knew, he wandered away pretty far from the clearing. But how could he possibly get lost with snow that deep when he could just follow his own tracks back. He turned away, smiling slightly and feeling childlishly proud of himself. He looked up and all the sticks just fell off his hands, landing in the snow at his feet. Because there was someone standing on the path his footprints had created, not further than two steps from him.

* * *

,,Luk, it's been at least half an hour already." Vlad noticed, biting his lip and almost cutting it open with one of his sharp canines.

Lukas rubbed his forehead with one hand in irritation. They were both standing by the tree the horses were bound to, contemplating quickly shrinking supplies.

,,I just knew it would end up like this." he said.

,,_Este că așa?_" Vlad casted him a weird, keen glance. ,,Why did you let him do that then ?" he asked, not really expecting an aswer and being right to do so, since he didn't get any. All Lukas did was sighing in what sounded like annoyance.

,,What if huldras really decided to go after him ?" Vlad tried again.

,,Oh, okay already, I'll go look for him." Lukas grabbed his light, uniquely ornamented sword, the one that Vlad knew that contained a nice amount of magic due to all those spells Lukas had casted at it. So no matter how small the weapon seemed, it was in fact more deadly than all the other ones. He probably took it now just in case or out of habit but it didn't make Vlad feel better at all.

,,Stay here." said Lukas tersely and the next moment he was gone inside the deepening darkness of the forest.

With his perfect night vision, he quickly found Mathias' trail and followed it. He found it oddly straight-lined though, as if Mathias had been really going someplace, instead of just wandering around and looking for some wood. It didn't have to mean anything so he just kept on walking calmly. Until he felt it.

His nonhuman intuition made his senses tingle at the feeling of someone's recent presence. Someone more like him than like Mathias. An unearthly creature.

,,Well, shit." he thought, biting his lower lip and quickening his pace and hoping it wasn't anything worse than a huldra.

* * *

,,Uhm, girls..." Mathias gently pushed away another hand reaching in his direction and aiming to touch his face or go through his hair. That was what he had experienced within last...how long was he already sitting there ?

,There' was a shallow, wide ravine, deep inside that insane forest. From what he could see it was like a meeting place for all the huldras living in here. There were not only convenient rocks to sit on them but also a merrily crackling fire and even what looked like a place to dance around it. Was dancing around the fire some kind of magical ritual for them or what ?

,,Girls, I should probably get back..." he said cautiously but new hands appeared, cupping his cheeks and sliding down his arms. All the huldras, who were indeed breathtakingly beautiful girls with long tails poking from under their long skirts, were gathered closely around him, touching him, staring at him and exchanging quite complimenting comments between each other in their melodious, lilt voices. The way they spoke kind of reminded Mathias of Lukas' accent though here it was ten time more intense.

Being a center of such attention from a group of young beauties surely was every man's dream but Mathias, already knowing what they were, didn't let their sweetness fool him. Because their smiles might seem cute and eyes filled with kindness but behind all of it, there was the very same darkness Lukas and Vlad both carried in them. It was the reason he could not just stand up and walk away.

,,Stay with us, we'll take a good care of you." a petite brunette smiled at him, her violet eyes widening innocently.

,,Yes, you'll be the happiest man in the whole world." added a taller blonde in dreamy voice.

,,Oh, I'm pretty sure I would be, but the thing is..." he was cut short by the brunette who leaned down and pecked on his lips before straightening back. Mathias shaked his head, feeling a bit helpless. There was just no way to get out of this. Maybe if he played along and then escaped when they fell asleep...But did they even have to sleep ? They weren't humans after all.

,,Girls, come on, you're all great and stuff, but I really don't think it's..."

,,Shhush..." not only one but at least four hands covered his mouth. ,,You'll be just fine."

Mathias wasn't so sure about the last one. He just pulled their hands away, trying to keep up a smile.

,,Leave him already, he's my prey, you know." a cheerful, girlish voice made all the other huldras go quiet, for a moment. They turned around to see a strawberry blonde girl with big, greenish eyes. Her lips were curved in a proud smile as she walked over to Mathias and carefreely sat on his lap, throwing one slender arm around his neck.

,,Go away." she repeated, waving her another hand towards other huldras who unwillingly obeyed and took a few steps backwards, sitting themselves on the other stones or directly on the ground. There wasn't much snow here, on the ravine's bottom.

,,But you're the youngest one, how come you get him all for yourself ?" a redhead girl asked, pouting a bit.

,,These are the rules." Mathias' captor shrugged, smirking.

She was the one he had met before, while collectong wood for fire. Sneaking after him and catching him off-guards, she had forced him to come here with her. Well, forced, Mathias wasn't even sure why he had followed her, it must have been some kind of spell, it felt like it.

And now here he was, trapped with at least twenty huldras, knowing nothing about their intentions. Or almost nothing.

He couldn't be really worried though. Not when travelling in such special company as he did. Lukas and Vlad knew about huldras and probably were also capable of finding their meeting spot and getting him out of here. Preferably with no blood spill.

,,Oi, cutie, you look so deep in thoughts." he noticed a strawberry blonde staring at him from as close as she was sitting. ,,Were you thinking about someone else ? I can get that person out of your system for good, you know. You'll be happy and fully mine then."

Mathias could not take his gaze away from her cold, hungry eyes. It was just too fascinating.

,,No need for that." he replied, managing to stay calm and she smiled.

,,Whatever." she shrugged, giggling and leaning towards him even more so her head rested lightly on his shoulder. ,,I'm fine just with just your body for now."

,,You just sounded like a typical teenager hitting on random girls in the port." he mumbled and all huldras laughed, exchanging amused looks.

,,Tall, handsome and funny, I was so lucky to find you." the girl on his lap smiled and Mathias just sighed, wishing his friends would already realise he was gone. Though he'd probably have to endure Lukas' spiteful comments and scoffing for the next few eternities.

* * *

Lukas had easily found the ravine, following both physical tracks and the trail of huldra's magical energy. He was just slightly suprised seeing Mathias, surrounded by several huldras, staring at him as if he was a young god who accidentally got lost in the human realm. He didn't seem too comfortable though and Lukas just had to smirk, watching it.

He might have not been an ordinary human but it didn't mean he could just walk into a large group of sly, vicious creatures and take what they considered already theirs. From the other side...why not ? Simple solutions were sometimes the best ones.

He made sure his sword was tightly attached to his hips, just in case, and then just confidently walked down the narrow path into the ravine.

* * *

Mathias looked up as he heard all the girls go quiet at once. The hostility was literally hanging in the air and he felt the huldra's arm clenching tighter around his neck. It didn't stop him from brightening up in a broad grin at the sight of Lukas approaching him as if he had every right to be there. He didn't even looked around, just passed all the huldras like they didn't matter.

,,_You_ are not welcome here." the strawberry blonde spoke cooly and Lukas scowled a bit.

,,It's not like I came to visit, right ?"

,,Oh, I know why you came and my answer is _no_."

,,Are you sure about that ?" Lukas' eyes were never before neither so dark nor as cold as now. Only seeing them made Mathias felt as if he was freezing inside and Lukas wasn't even looking at him. But the huldra didn't even flinch.

,,Go ahead, try me." her voice was somewhat ironic. ,,Besides, you know the rules, don't you ? He followed me here and now he's mine."

Lukas snorted disdainfully.

,,I don't give a damn about rules, it's the North, remember ? And these are _your_ rules only."

Mathias felt he should have add something to this friendly conversation.

,,If I got to choose, I'd go away with him." he grinned. All huldras glared at him and the one who had brought him here even hissed like an angry cat and smacked him with one hand across the back of his head, though less painfully than Lukas used to do. The Northerner smirked at the sight.

,,Oh, I see you already know how to deal with him."

,,Oi, Luke ! That was too mean." Mathias gasped mockingly. ,,Maybe I'll stay here, at least most of them is nicer for me than you are."

,,Shut up now." replied Lukas, looking at him for the first time since he had come here. And there was nothing particularly mean in those eyes. In fact, the way Lukas looked at him actually made his heart skip a beat. He grasped the girl by hips and pulled her out of his lap, standing up himself. To his honest surprise, she did not lift a finger to stop him so he just walked over to Lukas and stood beside him.

,,Why would you need him anyway, he's no more than a human. Cute one, yes, but that rather doesn't matter to you." the huldra narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

,,You can't just take what's mine and expect me to just get over it." Lukas pierced her eyes with that burning yet cold glare of his.

,,Ah, so now I'm yours ?" Mathias mumbled, mostly to himself. ,,Great, yeah, you guys just keep on taking away my human rights, sure, why not ?"

Lukas turned to him, one eyebrow raised.

,,Aren't you ?" he replied with another question, the one to leave Mathias just slightly breathless with how naturally and seriously it sounded. Did Lukas really considered him his ? Not only like helping him under the threats and sly actions but actually _his_ in some way.

Before Mathias could find right words to answer, if there were any, the huldra spoke again.

,,He can go away...if you stay." she said, staring at Lukas with a twisted expression that showed her true nature just perfectly well.

,,Fine." Lukas didn't hesitate even a second.

,,What ? No way !" Mathias protested abruptly. ,,Totally a sick deal, girl."

Huldra winked at him gleefully.

,,It's either you or him, honey." she smiled. ,,I won't stay empty-handed today."

,,Then I'll..." Mathias was once again cut short, this time by Lukas. And this time it wasn't his hand but lips, pressed against his own in a sudden, demanding, giving him those electrical shivers kiss. Which ended way too soon with Lukas shoving him away and giving him a blank look. That was highly confusing.

,,Now go away." ordered Lukas in peremptory tone, ignoring all huldras whispering one to another and the strawberry blonde widening her eyes in astonishment.

,,I see..." she said quietly to herself.

,,No." Mathias shaked his head, stubbornly standing still and staring at Lukas. But then he...felt something, there was no better definition for that outer sensation suddenly creeping into his head. It was like a gentle but firm urge to go away.

,,Damn, Luke, don't use your tricks on me." Mathias groaned.

,,Stop it." Lukas said, glaring at the huldra and Mathias could no longer feel his mind being manipulated. So it was her, he thought.

,,Get away from here, or I'll make you." Lukas turned back to him and something in his eyes made Mathias finally give up. This time not because of mind controll or some low spells.

He sighed heavily, trying to wordlessly let Lukas know that he expected him to get out of here as well, no matter how. And the other one nodded his head, barely noticeably.

As Mathias was walking away, slowly leaving the ravine, he could not help wondering what exactly had just happened. And what was yet to happen now. One thing was sure though. He needed Vlad's advice with this one since he didn't even know if huldras could be fought with or killed like normal humans. Because that was what he was going to do. To get back there and make them regret.

* * *

_Translations:_

_Este că așa? - is that so ?_

_Woah, I didn't think I could make it before going on my winter holidays trip but it seems I underestimated the power of compulsive need to stay up, writing, right before the day I have to set off. Honestly, it's 1 a.m. here with my train leaving before 6 a.m. Today. And I haven't even finished packing my stuff yet. Why does it always happen to me ? Sorry for any eventual mistakes in the chapter but I was trying hard to finish it tonight so I hope you'll like it anyway :)  
_

_ Also, I'll post Vlad's separate story on my profile, I'm just not sure when exactly but the latest possible is next week._


	12. Chapter 12

,,Vlaaad ! Vlad ! We need to...!" Mathias' shouting suddenly broke as the man ran onto the clearing and fell into the snow. Vlad, who had been sitting in silence in front of a small bonfire, now jumped up slightly, turning to see what had happened.

,,Oh, gods, Mathias, you almost scared the soul out of me." he said, grasping his chest in mock dismay. Mathias grinned at him sheepishly from where he was still lying in the snow. He stood up quickly, used both hands to brush off the snow from his clothes and looked up.

,,Sorry, I tripped." he explained, a bit winded from running here all the way from huldras' ravine. Huldras ! he reminded himself immediately and hurried over to Vlad.

,,Where's Lukas ?" the red-eyed boy asked. ,,He went to look for you, you know, if you two missed each other just now..."

,,No !" Mathias interrupted, raising one hand and shaking his head. ,,Listen...The huldras, they got me, but then Lukas came and they still wouldn't let me go away so Lukas agreed to stay with them instead, why would he do that, and he told me to go away, but I can't leave him there, can I ? But I don't know what to do, I mean, how do you even fight or kill huldras ?"

Vlad's eyes went wide as he was listening to that slightly chaotic summary of the unlucky events. He shook his head once.

,,Knowing Lukas, I'd say he's in no danger, I mean it's some huldras against...well, him." he said hesitantly. ,,But we can't let him deal with them by himself alone."

,,There were so many of them, 20 at least and they had those crazy mind controlling powers, I mean, what the hell ? How's Lukas supposed to get out of it, I really don't see how."

,,You're right, let's go and see if we can come in helpful." Vlad stood up abruptly, a determined look on his face. Mathias was already by the horses, unfastening his sword from the saddle. Vlad did the same.

,,Ah, shit, wait. Lukas would kill me if I left the camp and horses unprotected." said Vlad, biting his lip. ,,No ! I know, I'll cast that protecting spell around it." he lit up as the solution popped into his mind. ,,Hold it." he said, handing his sword to Mathias and running over to their bags again. He pulled something out, some necklace ? Mathias couldn't really see clearly, it was too dark.

,,Stand outside." Vlad ordered him a little impatiently. ,,Oh, I mean, stay back, there, under the trees."

As Mathias obeyed, Vlad started a single round of walking around the entire camp, his hand clenched around the necklace, his lips moving, forming mysterious words in his language. It wasn't exactly singing but it wasn't talking either. It sounded just as casting a spell should sound. Or at least Mathias could easily imagine that this way.

,,It's done." said Vlad as his last steps closed a very uneven circle around the tent and horses. ,,I think. Protecting spells aren't really my thing but I guess it'll do for now."

,,Good, so let's go." Mathias already started walking into the woods, his hand raised up with a small torch he had lit from the bonfire before. Vlad caught up to him and took his own sword back from him.

,,I didn't know you could do some real magic like this." Mathias said with an obvious admiration as they were marching along his old tracks.

Vlad smiled in both content and embarrassment. ,,Yeah, that's nothing really, just a simple spell, I don't even know if this will work properly."

,,I'm sure it will. How does it work anyway ? And what's that necklace ?"

,,It's a turquoise, a stone that's believed to have protecting properties, amongst many others. It's especially recommended for travellers and riders. I used it only to focus my spell on what it was supposed to do. And that would be not letting anyone or anything inside the circle, I think it should be like this, they can pass two steps from it and they still won't notice it's here."

,,That's amazing !" Mathias decided and from the Vlad's face he could read it wasn't the reaction the boy was used to.

They were deep inside the forest when suddenly Vlad came to a halt, Mathias doing so too, giving him quite a puzzled look.

,,I heard something." said Vlad and they exchanged quick glances. For a moment they stood like this, unmoving and in silence but no other sound followed the previous one. Not up until they clearly heard someone's footsteps, audible because of the snow. It was hard to tell if it was one person or more though.

,,Are those huldras ?" asked Mathias, his hand clenching around his sword, fastened to his belt.

Vlad shook his head hesitantly, his gaze now straight ahead, pointed into the darkness.

,,Noo, I don't think so...but the light from our torch blinds me too much to really see through that darkness." he tilted his head a little.

,,No way..." he whispered, his eyes widening.

,,What ? Who is it ?"

,,It's...Lukas."

,,No way !" it was Mathias' turn to use the phrase as he squinted his eyes, trying to see anything regardless of the darkness.

,,No, really, I'm telling you it's him." Vlad turned to him, his lips stretched in a wide, fangs-showing smile.

Before Mathias managed to add any more doubts, the person approaching them was already close enough for the wobbly torch's light to show his face.

,,Lukas !" Mathias shouted out in excitement. He quickly passed the torch to Vlad and, acting on impuls, ran over to the Northerner. He was only about to give him a strong hug but somehow they ended up landing in the snow, Mathias on top of Lukas with both arms wrapped around the smaller man. Lukas groaned and tried to push him away but failed since Mathias apparently had no intent of letting him go.

,,Oh, gods. You're heavy, you know, I can't breathe." Lukas said, only making Mathias chuckle. ,,Get off me, seriously."

,,Yeah, just a moment more..." Mathias asked, hugging him even tighter, his eyes closed and face buried in Lukas' hair. He felt so relieved to see the Northerner safe and free, why wouldn't he show that ?

,Oh, that's why.' he realised, letting out a pained moan as Lukas' fingers clenched around a handfull of his hair and lifted his head forcefully to meet the other's dark, cold eyes. But didn't those slightly parted lips just beg to be roughly kissed and bitten ? Probably not but Mathias' couldn't restrain himself from wanting this anyway, since he already was in such convienient position to do so.

,,Get off me. Now." Lukas said in dangerously calm voice and Mathias sighed resignedly, his train of thoughts broken right on time before he would do something that might cost him being beaten up by Lukas, not to mention Vlad's reaction. He lifted himself with both arms and stood up, reaching down to help Lukas stand up as well. To his honest surprise, Lukas took his hand and let himself be pulled up.

,,Now, how did you manage to escape ?" Mathias asked, Lukas stepping away from him the moment he stood firmly.

,,Yeah, from what Mathias said it was one serious situation down there." Vlad added, walking over to them and smiling at Lukas. ,,I'm so glad you're all right."

,,First of all, I didn't _escape_. I just walked away after I showed them why they shouldn't even try to stop me." Lukas rolled his eyes as he noticed both his companions staring at him in awe. ,,It was nothing, really."

,,Oh, come on, not nothing, I saw them, it's not like it was just a bunch of human girls, they were powerful, magical and those murderous glances could really tell something about their natures." Mathias opposed, followed by Vlad's nodding earnestly.

,,Whatever. Why are we still standing here ? They might be still angry after I drove my sword through one of them, we better get out of here now." Lukas smirked, leaving them behind as he went off towards the camp. ,,Vlad." he said suddenly.

,,_Ce_ ?"

,,The camp is now somehow protected, isn't it ?"

,,Well, of course it is."

Lukas turned to him with a smallest of smiles. ,,You can practice your spells more often, you know ? Nobody will scold you for that here."

Vlad smiled back somewhat uncertainly but also with undeniable happiness. ,,Yeah, I know."

,,You've been scolded for doing magic ?" Mathias asked curiously. He didn't really know much about Vlad's past, even though they were now sort of friends. Vlad just never talked about it and always looked as if he didn't even want to remember. Apart from the moments when he seemed to miss something important for him. Or someone, who knows.

,,_Da_, indeed, I was." he replied. ,,People used to really freak out when they caught me performing some spells or just playing with my magic. Not everyone but...most of them."

He shaked his head with a wide grin. ,,It's not like I never gave them any reason to be afraid of me. I mean, if you're a little kid with powers like this and someone gets on your nerves...then yeah, weird things happen to them."

Mathias couldn't help but chuckle, picturing a child, cute version of Vlad running around and pulling mean but harmless magical pranks on people who tried to make him eat all the dinner vegetables or told him to go to bed already.

Vlad pressed himself between Lukas and Mathias and, as they were marching ahead, wrapped his arms around each of them, smiling sincerely.

,,But now I have you, guys and that's just awesome, I couldn't wish for better friends."

,,Aw, that's so sweet." Mathias laughed, grinning. Even Lukas smiled, even if a little absent-mindedly.

They were not so far from the camp, almost able to see fire's light between the trees, when Lukas stopped with no warning and casted a meaningful glance at Vlad. The latter only looked around, giving an impression he was trying not only to see or hear something but somehow sense it in not strictly human meaning.

,,_Dracu !_" he murmured, stiffing his arms and reaching for a sword. ,,It's them, _nu ?_"

Lukas nodded, his own sword already in hand, its shiny blade stained with fresh blood. Mathias pulled out the weapon he had been carrying all the time.

,,Huldras ?" he asked in composed, quiet voice, standing motionlessly arm in arm with both other men.

,,Yes. The question is how many..." Vlad bitten his lower lip. Mathias couldn't disagree. If there were all of them then he wouldn't count on an easy win. Or any win to be honest.

,Nah, can't be this bad. Lukas seems to handle them at least.' he thought. As if alarmed by his thoughts, Lukas turned to him, his face serious with a faint glint of some wild restlessness in dark eyes.

,,It's best to chop their heads off if you mean to kill, not only hurt them." he adviced and smiled wickedly for a mere second before turning away. Right in time to see a small group of unnaturally beautiful girls, emerging silenly from between the trees, out of the darkness.

There weren't all of them. Not even half in fact. Six huldras were now standing in front of them, their hair braided tightly, faces stern with warning stares set on three friends. Each of them was equiped with some kind of weapon, from swords and spears to axes. The one with a tremendous axe, higher then herself, was that sweet looking one who had captured Mathias before and then made a deal with Lukas. She grimaced slightly, catching his sight and Mathias sent her a crooked smile. Oh, she won't have it easy with him, not this time.

The fight began spontaneously, the huldras attacked all together, a bit chaotically but fiercely. In a few moments Mathias found himself using his sword to the extent he had only experienced in a real battle before. Oh, the huldras were clumsy with weapons but their unhuman agility and really fast moves made it hard to go with. But Mathias kept their pace and even managed to drive a few swings that ended up in enemies' not armoured bodies. Not that it stopped them for long.

From what he could see, both Lukas and Vlad had no troubles fighting, Vlad even still holding a torch in one hand while the other one was handling a sword. His arm was covered with blood but it didn't seem seriously, more like a scratch.

Mathias swiftly drove a sword through a tall brunette's chest, making her fall to his feet. She wasn't dead though, only uncounscious. He turned around just in time to block an axe, aimed at his head. The force of it echoed as a shudder running up his arm. That was her, his capturer. And now he could notice already dried blood on her stomach, her shirt soaked with it. So that was also her that Lukas had wounded before. Well, that was only to be expected.

,,Aren't you too tiny for such weapon ?" Mathias asked her as they clenched in another attempt to hurt each other. She pouted childishly and from that close Mathias saw how pale she was. Probably too weak to beat him now, no matter what he was.

And indeed, it wasn't long untill she fell, her eyes filled with both pain and anger, a sword sticking out of where her heart should be. But probably Mathias had missed because she was still breathing.

He kneeled down and took the axe from her hands. It was one fine weapon, with its surprisingly small weight and sharp, thin blade.

,,Don't you mind ?" he asked in ironical courtesy, standing up and pulling the sword out of the huldra's body. She groaned and passed out finally. Mathias snorted, turning back to the others.

They already beat their huldras and were standing few steps away, appparently watching him fight. Vlad was grinning at him, sheer excitement dancing merrily in those crimson eyes. Mathias grinned back.

,,And that's all they have ?" he asked, feeling as if he could take on a rest of huldras' bunch by himself.

,,Well, they're not fighters after all...and having their magic almost blocked by someone stronger, they can't really do much." Vlad explained. In the meanwhile, Lukas was strolling among huldras, looking down at them with unreadable expression.

,,We should probably kill them." he said blankly. ,,At least this one." he stopped right next to Mathias, his gaze focused on the huldras' leader. ,,I bet the others wouldn't go fighting if it wasn't for her."

He hesitated and then shaked his head once. ,,But we can't. Unless we want the rest of them to go after us, this time for real."

,,Whatever, let's leave them like this, I think they've learnt their lesson." Mathias said, fastening the sword back to his belt and grasping the axe firmly. ,,Now let's get back to the camp."

,,Are you taking it with you ? For real ?" Lukas gave him a weird look as the three of them started walking again.

,,Yeah, why ? It's a hell of a good weapon."

,,It's huge. Not really convienient in transportation, don't you think ?"

Mathias chuckled, making use of an useful function he had noticed earlier. In half of the axe's lenght, there was a ring of iron but if it was moved away, the whole weapon could be easily bent in two, shortening it to a decent size.

Lukas rolled his eyes, seeing this and said nothing more. Vlad however laughed. ,,That's just brilliant."

,,I know, right ?" Mathias' grin went wider.

As they stepped out of the forest on an empty clearing, Mathias frowned a bit.

,,Shouldn't we be already at the camp by now ?" he asked, confused. Lukas looked up a him in disbelief.

,,Are you stupid or what ? No, don't answer that. Vlad, you told him how the spell works, right ?"

Before Vlad managed to react, Mathias burst out laughing.

,,Oh shit, I forgot." he admitted. Lukas' expressionless gaze was the only answer for that.

Vlad smirked, walking over to Lukas and standing behind him, his arms wrapped around the Northerner's neck. He leant chin on his shoulder.

,,Luk, can you see through that spell ?" he asked. Lukas grabbed his hands calmly and untied them from around himself, turning to face Vlad and lightly push him away.

,,Of course."

,,Ah." Vlad bit his lip, looking troubled. ,,So it _was_ bad after all."

,,Not really. Though you yourself know best that protecting magic is not exactly your strong point."

,,Yeah, I guess." Vlad agreeded, smiling slightly. ,,I'm not even sure how to properly take it off now."

,,You better figure it out quickly, we have to pack our things and get out of this forest as soon as we can."

Mathias' head lifted right away and turned towards them as the words registered his sleepy mind.

,,What ?!" was all he managed to say.

,,Please, stay silent for today, would you ?" Lukas regarded him, his voice resigned.

,,Is it realy necessary ?" Vlad asked after sighing heavily.

,,Oh gods, help us." Mathias murmured, yawning.

,,Get to work, you two." Lukas ordered coldly, though something gleefull, a pixie sparkle, was once again surfacing in those dark blue eyes.

As Vlad hummed something quietly and stepped further into the clearing, Mathias was finally able to see their camp, with bonfire already dead and cold. He headed straight to their tent with an intention of taking it down and collecting the stuff they had placed inside.

,,Oi, Luke, sometimes I hate you." Mathias said as he passed Lukas by. He reached up to ruffle his platinum hair and ignored the glare he gained for this. At least he could have some fun, teasing the one who had come up with a mad idea like this. How were they even going to ride in a pitch darkness of the forest ?

* * *

Mathias sat stiffly in his saddle, yawning uncontrollably every now and then. He leant down to caress Negma's shiny neck. The mare snorted quietly. Even she seemed a little tired. Not a big surprise, considering how they had been riding all night until finally, at dawn, they'd reached the forest's edge.

Truth to be told, Mathias sighed with relief once they left those woods. He felt too sleepy and tired for fighting again. All he wanted was a long, peaceful sleep. But here he was, still in the way, even though it was already morning.

,,Luke, are we going to ride as usual now, all day ?" he asked, catching up to Lukas, who also didn't look too fresh. His eyes were dull as he looked up at Mathias.

,,No." he replied blankly, for once completely ignoring being called like this by Mathias.

,,Great, I don't think I can go on like this any longer." Vlad cut into their little conversation. ,,So where are we stopping ?"

,,Remember that small village nearby ? We've been there two years ago." Lukas smirked slightly as Vlad's eyes went wider.

,,The one where people wanted to capture me and burn alive, thinking I was some sort of a demon ?"

,,The one and only. Such a lovely place." Lukas seemed to enjoy Vlad's panicking.

,,I'm not staying there, you must be kidding me !" Vlad stopped his horse and Lukas turned away to hide a malicious smile. Mathias frowned, watching them.

,,What kind of place is that ?" he asked, not sure whether he should take Lukas seriously now, since his eyes had gone all pixie-like and playful. Nonetheless, he looked up and and answered.

,,The only village in this area, it's so isolated that people out there are...well, weird. And afraid of anything magical, abnormal. They can't even look in the huldras' forest's direction without flinching and murmuring the prayers. And once they saw Vlad...you can imagine how they reacted."

Vlad groaned loudly. ,,You should have warned me back then, you know ?" he said accusingly.

,,I did. I told you not to go down there when we were staying up in the hills." Lukas shrugged, not sounding guilty in the slightest.

,,Yeah, but you never told me why, and you know it was like encouraging me to check it by myself."

Mathias could understand this perfectly well since he had been just the same way his entire life. How many times had he eneded up in troubles because of doing things like this ? But, from a different point of view...how many amazing adventures had he found as well.

,,Well, at least you've learnt to trust me when I tell you not to go somewhere, haven't you ?"

,,As if !" murmured Vlad, a smile blossoming slowly on his lips.

,,Rebellious brat, aren't you ?" Lukas asked laughily. ,,Both of you, in fact."

Mathias and Vlad exchanged amused glance and started laughing.

,,Yeah, sorry about that, grandpa, you're getting too old for this." Vlad grinned.

,,Ohh, you, ungrateful..." Lukas' eyes narrowed in mock warning. ,,Just wait..."

Mathias was smiling widely, satisfied with such playful atmosphere between them. Now it felt as if they were just three close friends travelling together and having some fun in the way. He wished they really were. But the reality was that he didn't even know where they were going and how long would it take until they'd leave him alone again. And that was unless Lukas really didn't plan on imprisoning him somewhere forever as Mathias had been afraid of not so long ago. Now he was even no longer sure how he wanted things to end.

Tossing away all the complicated reflections, he grinned cheekily and joined the others in that not too serious fight on words and teasing.

* * *

,,Okay. So who will stay on guard ?"

Everyone stayed quiet after Vlad's question. Lukas, looking bored and reluctant, Mathias, pretending to be too busy with feeding the horses with last amount of oat they had and Vlad, waiting for someone else to volounteer.

After few silent moments, Lukas sighed.

,,Just cast one of your spells on the camp and let's all go to sleep." he said, standing up.

,,Ha, now you're going to make me do that all the time, aren't you ?"

,,Of course. Now that I know for sure you can do that again." Lukas said as if it was something obvious.

,,_Nu fi at__ât de viclean__._" Vlad replied, showing both fangs in odd smile.

,,_Eu vă va ajuta." _

Mathias looked up in surprise. He had no idea Lukas could speak Vlad's language. His words were accented differently but he seemed to be pretty fluent in it.

,,Yeah, you better help." Vlad tried to sound grumpy but his crimson eyes were already bright with excitement.

As soon as they pitched a small camp, not even bothering with collecting firewood for later, Vlad grabbed Lukas' hand and pulled him slightly, standing right next to the tent.

,,You don't really have to hold my hand." Lukas said.

,,I know." Vlad nodded quickly. ,,But it's easier for me like this."

Mathias sat down on a snow covered rock on the hillside, watching them attentively. It was always fascinating to see someone doing magic. And since it was Lukas...He bit his lip in attempt not to smile excitedely.

,,You can start now." Lukas said quietly to Vlad and the boy nodded once, his expression concentrated. This time there was no walking around the camp nor holding the necklace. It was nothing more but this half-spoken, half-sung, long spell, oddly rhytmicall and mesmerising.

Vlad's eyes were closed, his lips forming foreign words. He seemed to have it somewhat easier than the last time Mathias had seen him doing so. But his hands were clenched tightly around Lukas' ones.

Lukas did nothing spectacular, nor even noticeable for Mathias. He just stood there unmoving, his eyes darkened and much more alive than usual. As if his own magical powers were flowing impatiently through his body and he was holding them back.

Suddenly Vlad went quiet, his eyes opening, bright, wild and strangely hungry.

,,That was..." he bit his lip and shaked his head. ,,Is the spell good enough ? I couldn't really focus on its technical side."

Lukas smirked slightly. ,,Yeah. It's good."

He slipped his hands out of Vlad's grasp and ran his fingers through the boy's sleek, reddish hair protectively. Vlad smiled at him.

,,Now we can go to sleep." Lukas decided, walking over to the tent and lifting up its front part to get inside. ,,Are you two going ?"

Mathias snapped back to reality, stood up and raising both hands to stretch with a yawn, before he followed Lukas.

,,Sure." he said. ,,Does using magic really feel that great ?"

,,Mhm, sometimes." Vlad replied, crawling into the tent and curling up inside the large fur. Mathias laid next to him, in the middle, with Lukas on his another side.

,,You two can talk later, really." Lukas mumbled, sounding as if he was already half asleep. Mathias turned over to face him and met his unguarded, tired gaze. Lukas was wrapped tightly in the fur, even lower half of his face was covered, with only his eyes visible above it. And those eyes were looking into his own in an unexpectedly conscious way, so full of something thick and dark. And tempting, to the extend where Mathias couldn't help his heart beating faster and more chaotically. But this time it wasn't only because of fascination or something. It was pure, tingling need to touch him.

And he would do so much more than just touching him once, if it wasn't for Vlad of course.

Apparently following his train of thoughts, Lukas raised one hand and soundlessly reached out to him, running his cold fingers against Mathias' cheek, lips and then his neck, making the other man get small shiver.

Mathias couldn't see Lukas' lips, but those eyes told him the Northerner must have been smirking.

,So you want to play like this...' he thought, abruptly grabbing Lukas' hand and pulling it up to his lips. He cought the sensitive skin of an inner wrist between his teeth and bit it quite hard, leaving red marks on the pale background. As Lukas flinched slightly, Mathias sneered and licked that very same place slowly, his eyes narrowed and set on Lukas' ones. Then he let go of his hand as he felt himself wanting the man too much for comfort.

Lukas hid his hand back under the fur, their eyes still glued together. And then Lukas closed his, just like this, breaking that wordless, hot connection between them. Mathias almost sighed, finding himself somewhere between disappointment and relief. It didn't take him too long to fall asleep though.

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) And for those interested - I published Vlad's separate story. It's called ,In search of summer' (yeah, lame, I know, but my creativity always suck with titles)_

_I can't believe it took me so damn long to update this time. If anyone's been waiting for this, than I'm sorry. I'll definitely do it quicker next time. It's just that I've finally gotten back to work and I was pretty busy after I returned from the winter holiday trip. It was rather like spring trip though. But I'm so happy, because I can ride horses again. All the doctors were like ,oh, you're gonna wait 3 months for this.' So I waited...3 weeks xD Well, then I had to wait one more week because of the pain, but now it's all right and it feels amazing to be back in a saddle ^^_

_ Translations:_

_Dracu - fuck_

_Nu fi atât de viclean. - don't be so sly_

_Eu vă va ajuta. - I'll help_


End file.
